To develop a measure of the adjustment strains for international students, more than 250 high school-aged students from 5 South American countries were assessed twice during a year-long stay in the United States using the Inventory of Student Adjustment. Results support the utility and validity of the scale. (SLD)

Some issues involved in the measurement of student motivation and learning strategies are explored, focusing on a self-report instrument, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The MSLQ, designed to assess the motivational orientation and learning strategy use of college students and based on a social-cognitive view, has been…

A study was undertaken to obtain direct empirical evidence for the validity and usefulness of English as a second language (ESL) placement of a shortened version of the Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP) Test being used in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and locally developed and scored writing tests. The LACCD provided…

This book considers legal questions, theoretical issues, and practical methods for meeting the assessment needs of students with disabilities. It is comprised of ten chapters and includes test accommodation topics relating to federal and state regulations (including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997), problems…

The development of the Polish Proficiency Test, a standardized, nationally-normed test of listening and reading comprehension for English-speaking learners of Polish, is reported. An introductory chapter provides background information about the test's development, including discussion of the relationship between the test and Polish language…

The oral interaction examination used by Britain's Royal Society of Arts for testing communicative use of English as a foreign language is described. The underlying principles of the test, its structure, administration, issues of reliability and validity, and scoring are outlined. Three components of the test itself are included. One component is…

This handbook resulted from a project to develop a tape-based alternative test of language proficiency in less commonly taught languages. The objective was to produce a test that is modeled on and readily interpretable by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Interagency Language Roundtable (ACTFL/ILR) proficiency guidelines…

The scientific concept of intelligence has been heavily influenced by the technology of measurement. The variables which can be measured have been made the operational definition of intelligence. This approach differs from a deductive approach, in which a theory of cognition in general is used to derive the sorts of measurements that must be taken…

In an effort to examine issues raised by the effort to assess the performance of educational institutions, a project focusing on the social purposes and intellectual foundations of assessment practices in education was initiated. The primary goal of the project was to explore the possibility of developing new, more appropriate educational…

The purpose of this study was to review and evaluate the Basic Inventory of Natural Language (BINL) to help determine whether it should continue to be used in Honolulu's Students of Limited English Proficiency (SLEP) Program. The study looked at four critical aspects of the BINL: its content validity, its test-retest reliability, its effectiveness…

The Social Integration Scale (SIS) is intended to facilitate empirical research on the applicability of control theory to many types of adult crime, including "street crime," white collar crime, and physical assaults on spouses. There are five subscales: (1) belief (belief in law and social control); (2) commitment (psychological…

Discusses the entrenched nature of standardized testing in the educational system, the anti-testing movement and its supporting evidence, shifts in policy since 1980, current trends, the investment of publishers and test-makers in standardized testing, the true costs of standardized testing, and specifically "American" characteristics of…

Elucidates the concepts of evaluation, and maintains that evaluation is an integral part of music education, at all levels. Expounds on the functions of evaluation in music education, dividing the discussion into the following categories: achievement, diagnostic, aptitude, and attitude functions. Addresses the concerns and criticisms of…

A survey identified 352 psychological tests that are used in Australia but produced in other countries. About 89 percent have been standardized for use in Australia, but no local data have been compiled for some high-use tests. Responsibilities of test distributors and users are discussed. (SLD)

Studies effectiveness of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) in predicting subsequent grades for 9,064 Arizona applicants to teacher education programs in 1985 to 1989 and 100 students with subsequent performance data. The PPST has blocked minority students from teacher preparation programs, although correlations between score and performance…