National educational groups have recommended the use of universal screening to assist in the early identification of reading problems. One of the most widely used measures used for the universal screening of reading is oral reading fluency (ORF) (Fewster & Macmillan, 2002). However, ORF is somewhat time consuming to administer and has been…

The purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate whether cloze forms with text-driven deletion method, proposed by Farhady and Keramati (1996), will produce better psychometric properties than standard cloze form; (2) to compare the psychometric properties of cloze test and C-test, both of which belong to the family of language reduced…

Research supports the connection between engagement, achievement, and school behavior across levels of economic and social advantage and disadvantage. Despite increasing interest and scientific findings, a number of interrelated conceptual and methodological issues must be addressed to advance this construct, particularly for designing…

In this speech, the author covers a lot of ground. In the first half of his speech, the author gives a brief summary of the last 40 years of the history of language testing, from his perspective. The author reviews these years more or less by decade. Additionally, he discusses the evolution of the profession of language testing during this period,…

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) in a sample of 296 adolescents (49% boys) in Grades 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 with a mean age of 15.52 years. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the three-factor structure of the SAS-A in the Chinese sample: Fear of Negative…

Asperger's syndrome (AS), first diagnosed in 1944, and has only recently begun to receive a great deal of research attention. An emerging controversy has been whether AS is a distinct condition from high functioning autism (HFA), and if so, can it be reliably and validly diagnosed. While measures designed specifically to aid in the screening and…

A considerable amount of attention has occurred with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) of children and youth. Furthermore, the rationale for using the most restrictive of the applied behavior analysis methods and medication has been largely based on the presence of severe challenging behaviors such as…

Although commercially developed interest measures based on Holland's RIASEC types are effectively used in a variety of applied settings, these measures have somewhat limited research utility due to their length and copyright restrictions placed by the test publishers. In the present study, two sets of 8-item RIASEC scales were developed using…

Researchers in a number of disciplines have examined the utility of single-item measures for both affective and cognitive constructs. While these authors have indicated that, under certain circumstances, the use of single-item measures is appropriate, there remains concern regarding the reliability and validity of single-item measures. This study…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. The purpose of this report is to document the technical aspects of the 2013-14 NYSAA.…

Coefficient Alpha can be used to estimate the reliability of a test when the test is split into several parts. It is known that alpha can severly underestimate test reliability when the parts have an unequal number of items. A generalization of alpha is proposed to correct this defect. (Author/JKS)

Two new reliability coefficients have been derived for situations in which a test must be divided into parts of unequal length. This report summarizes a study of the statistical bias and the standard errors of these coefficients and compares them to Guttman's lambda coefficients and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. (Author/JKS)

Reports the test-retest reliabilities for the Schedule of Recent Experiences (item counts) and the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire and compares the two scales. Subjects (N=109) were men and women enlisted in the US military reserves. Results indicated the two questionnaires demonstrate acceptable test-retest reliability. (BH)

The Autism Reinforcer Checklist was found to have adequate reliability when used with 29 autistic children (preschool-early adolescence). Results indicated highest and lowest ranked reinforcers of the edible, material, social, and activity type. (CL)