The Purdue Interest Questionnaire (PIQ), a 264-item Likert-type scale, was developed to assist engineering students in their career planning. The six engineering scales identify specialized fields: aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, or mechanical. For students planning to transfer out of engineering, four scales identify…

A fourteen item Likert-type attitude scale concerning a college-level basic skills program was developed from topics suggested by the program staff. The scale was completed by 216 college freshmen who were enrolled in at least one of the three courses offered by the program: writing and reading, study habits and thinking strategies, and…

THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA) FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TESTS FOR TEACHERS AND ADVANCED STUDENTS ARE THE SUBJECTS OF THIS FINAL PROJECT REPORT. FOLLOWING AN ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE AWARDING OF A GOVERNMENT CONTRACT TO MLA TO DEVELOP NATIONALLY STANDARDIZED QUALIFICATION TESTS AND A…

The Children's Attitude toward Reading Test (CHART) is presented, as well as the first draft of a technical manual describing its use. The test booklet consists of 36 unsystematically ordered pictures. Each picture represents a reading situation (instructional, school recreational, home recreational, and outdoor recreational reading) that has…

A live tailored achievement testing study was conducted to compare procedures based on the one- and three-parameter logistic models. Previous studies yielded inconclusive results because of the procedures by which item calibrations were linked and because of the item selection procedures. Using improved procedures, 83 college students were tested…

The Racial Attitudes and Perceptions Survey (RAPS) was developed to obtain information from black and white military personnel, including reports of the frequencies of specific discriminatory behaviors and the tension levels associated with each race. The instrument was evaluated in terms of its construct validity and its reliability. Attitudes…

The reliability and validity of the Student Opinion Survey of Teaching (SOST) were assessed, and normative data were provided for judging its value in the evaluation of faculty teaching. Data were collected from 2,229 students enrolled in 93 classes taught by 53 instructors in 12 academic disciplines at the University of Windsor, Ontario. Internal…

Six approaches to assessing test item bias were examined: transformed item difficulty, point biserial correlations, chi-square, factor analysis, one parameter item characteristic curve, and three parameter item characteristic curve. Data sets for analysis were generated by a Monte Carlo technique based on the three parameter model; thus, four…

The validity and reliability of essay scores were examined by comparing the mean scores assigned to good and poor quality essay responses of different lengths written by high school sophomores. In-service and pre-service social studies teachers graded essay responses to a test question requiring knowledge of the Constitutional provisions for…

Purpose of the Zip Test is to locate the instructional level at which a child can effectively use a mathematics book and a reader and to indicate his ability to conceptualize verbally in English. Designed to determine quickly and with reasonable accuracy the grade placement of a migrant child in reading and math and to assess his English language…

The AAMD-Becker Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory is a non-reading vocational preference test for use with mentally retarded persons, particularly the educable mentally retarded at the high school level. Illustrations having occupational significance are presented in forced-choice format for selections. The instrument helps to identify…

This paper deals with measurement of language dominance at the early-childhood level using a rating scale to help bilingual programs with student classification and placement. Some of the assumptions unique in the measurement of language dominance are discussed and applied to the validation procedure on a Spanish/English language dominance scale…

The effects of the protocol film series, Concepts and Patterns in Teacher-Pupil Interaction, were measured by a film-based test after the test had undergone validation. The test, Categorizing Teacher Behavior, evidenced a high level of reliability and validity in a graduate level course in educational psychology. The test was judged valid by a…

Although over 100 million tests are administered each year and testing is a subject of increasing contention among students, faculty members remain diffident. A better understanding of the purpose and structure of evaluating mechanisms is a prerequisite for widespread improvement. Teachers must understand what factors play a part in measuring…

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measure of teacher value systems. Three value systems were defined as values associated with (1) the pursuit of truth, (2) social and interpersonal relations, and (3) authority and its exercise. The scale was taken through three stages of development and field…