A study was undertaken to improve the measurement of small team performance within the Army. A provisional taxonomy of team-level performance functions was field-validated; criteria and measures of the functions were developed; and their reliability was examined. The provisional taxonomy, used for observing Army field training exercises, was used…

The ability of the Perceptual-Motor-Rating Scale to indicate changes in regular classroom performance resulting from individualized perceptual-motor training by physical education specialists was statistically analyzed. Efforts were made to identify factors, confirm their independence, optimize scoring procedures and assess reliability.…

The development of two new rating scales, a classroom observation schedule and a comparable student self-report questionnaire, is described. Both instruments are designed to measure group self-concept, defined as a social structure exhibiting interactions which indicate values, attitudes, and beliefs that determine the self-perception of a group,…

Appropriateness indexes (statistical formulas) for detecting suspiciously high or low scores on aptitude tests were presented, based on a simulation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with 3,000 simulated scores--2,800 normal and 200 suspicious. The traditional index--marginal probability--uses a model for the normal examinee's test-taking…

The Classroom Behavior Description (CBD)--a brief 10-item checklist on which teachers rate preschool childrens' behaviors which are considered most likely to influence school performance--was developed on the basis of earlier extensive research with more comprehensive children's behavior inventories. Results are reported of studies of teachers'…

Language arts teachers participated in an inservice program, The Writer's Clinic, and evaluated their students' improvement in writing ability using holistic essay scoring techniques. Seventh and eighth grade students were administered an essay composition pretest in December; the same essay topic was given as the post test in May. Students were…

Widely used measures of creativity are reviewed and classified into ten categories: tests of divergent thinking; attitude and interest inventories; personality inventories; biographical inventories; teacher nominations; peer nominations; supervisor ratings; judgments of products; nomination of eminent persons; and self-reported creative activities…

Conference speakers reviewed and analyzed the current thinking underlying the basic concepts of test norms, reliability, and validity. Roger T. Lennon's paper called for more attention to the development of norming theory and summarized current norming practices and the establishment of a system which would permit comparable norms for tests which…

Materials utilizing a simulated environment approach were developed, produced, pilot tested, and evaluated to determine their usefulness as media for training programs and for behavioral research in the process of administration of special education. Background and task materials took the form of both written and audiovisual media, featuring a…

The Wisconsin Administrative Practice Scale: Special Education (WAPS) is a self-administering survey instrument designed to measure implementation of 162 selected administrative practices and policies used to coordinate diagnostic units for handicapped children. One hundred thirty-five items are grouped into seven subscales each consisting of…

In past Head Start evaluations, cognitive measures have been weighed heavily. This has not accurately reflected the relative unimportance of cognitive program goals; child performance gains are not an objective with high priority for most Head Start programs. Evaluation planners need to weigh previously encountered measurement problems carefully…

The purpose of the study was to develop a course-evaluation form for the assessment of student-centered courses. The development of the instrument was derived from theoretical views of student-courses which suggested five dimensions. The dimensions included bases of power, positive classroom environment, personal meaningfulness, student…

A test battery was developed to measure 18 goals delineated by Phi Delta Kappa with an additional three added on. The purpose of the test was to assist school districts in needs assessment and program evaluation. The battery contained the following tests: Civics, Human Relations, Language/Reasoning, General Knowledge, Self, Careers, Arts and…

In studies conducted in the Baltimore City Public Schools by the Office of Pupil and Program Monitoring and Appraisal (OPPMA), pre-kindergarten pupils were found to be "growing scholastically". A program, Early School Admissions Program (ESAP) was based on nine objectives established to prepare pre-schoolers for "reading…

A Blind Learning Aptitude Test (BLAT) was developed on the basis of sense of touch rather than on conventional experience, fine sensory discrimination, or verbal competency. From a pool of about 350 items, most of them used in testing intelligence in the sighted, a pool of 94 was selected and embossed after the manner of braille. A residual pool…