Because touching is an important and often studied construct, and there is need for a valid self-report measure of touching behavior, a measure of touching behaviors was developed. Touching behaviors to be reported were: brief touch on the arm or shoulder, handshake, hug, hand holding, kiss on the cheek, and kiss on the lips. Persons identified as…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between scores on the multiple-choice General Educational Development (GED) Writing Skills test and scores on holistically graded essays. Secondary purposes included the following: (1) examining the relationship of essay scores to scores on the multiple-choice GED Reading Skills…

Barbara Jordan served as the hearing officer for three-day adversary evaluation hearings about the pros and cons of minimum competency testing (MCT). This report is the complete transcript of the second day of proceedings. The pro team, lead by James Popham, began by presenting representatives of four states (Florida, California, Texas, and…

Because of reliability and validity problems in teacher- and parent-rated early childhood questionnaires, the Preschool Temperament Inventory (PTI) was developed to help teachers assess and appreciate individual differences of children prior to first grade. The PTI uses teacher ratings on eight temperament categories, including activity level,…

One of the major factors for the lack of quality listening research is a lack of knowledge about the process itself. The second major factor is the lack of a reliable and valid listening test. From a review of 107 articles on listening, 38 reports of listening research, and from studies of seven examiner-developed and three commercially-developed…

The study, involving 379 students (6-20 years old), investigated the 3-year performance stability of handicapped children from four racial groups (Anglo, Black, Mexican American, and Native American). Data were collected from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). Results…

A standard method for exploring item bias is the intergroup comparison of item difficulties. This paper describes a refinement and generalization of this technique. In contrast to prior approaches, the proposed method deletes outlying items from the formulation of a criterion for identifying items as deviant. It also extends the mathematical…

A Spanish translation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) was tested for reliability among kindergarten to ninth grade Puerto Rican children. The study was prompted by the concern expressed in previous studies that translated and adapted intelligence tests, which have been standardized primarily with children of one culture, do…

A 20-year study to monitor moral developmental stages is summarized with a focus on the invariant sequence and internal consistency of each stage. It is theorized that an individual passes through several stages in attaining moral judgment. As children grow older, they are able to integrate diverse points of view on a moral conflict. Each stage…

The study investigated statistically significant correlations between levels of test anxiety and socioeconomic status among college sophomores and juniors. The Anxiety Scale (Alpert and Haber) was administered to students in an educational psychology course. Administrations were conducted at a neutral time, 45 days prior to the final exam, and…

A study compared General Equivalency Development (GED) program completion and Adult Performance Level (APL) attainment in West Virginia. During the study, 97 GED program participants, who were not exposed to APL instruction or materials, completed the APL survey either just before or immediately after taking the GED examination. Seventy-seven of…

Much previously published material for estimating the reliability of classification has been based on the assumption that a test consists of a known number of equally weighted items. The test score is the number of those items answered correctly. These methods cannot be used with classifications based on weighted composite scores, especially if…

The development of the Invitational Teaching Survey (ITS) which measures personally and professionally inviting teacher practices within the framework of invitational education was discussed. The development included initial item identification, validity evidence based on judgments, item selection based on judgments, validity evidence from a…

The High School Survey on Drugs was developed to assess the drug attitudes of and usage by high school students. The survey was designed to determine drug usage in a specific geopolitical area and to determine drug education program needs. The questionnaire is easily administered to groups of students. There are three types of questions associated…