This paper describes the process of designing and administering a sufficiently valid and reliable assessment instrument to measure the progress in attainment of adult learners studying numeracy, and discusses some of the inherent difficulties that were involved. The fieldwork took place during 2003-2005 and involved a sample of 34 teachers and 412…

This study examined the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) "discrepancy hypothesis", which asserts that a discrepancy in score elevations on the ECBI Intensity and Problem Scales is related to problematic parenting styles. The Intensity Scale measures the frequency of child disruptive behavior, and the Problem Scale measures parent…

The development of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test involves input from educators across the state. The development process attempts to create an assessment that reflects the skills and content understanding of students at the tested grade level. This study attempts to determine other factors that can affect student performance on…

There are many educational interventions being implemented to address workforce issues in the field of nanotechnology. However, there is no instrument to assess the impact of these interventions on student awareness of, exposure to, and motivation for nanotechnology. To address this need, the "Nanotechnology Awareness Instrument" was…

The intent of large-scale assessment systems is to promote student achievement toward specific standards by holding schools accountable for the performance of all students. However, it is difficult to know whether large-scale assessment systems are having this intended effect as they are currently implemented. In this article, the authors examine…

Self-estimates of ability have been shown to be generally inaccurate but still continue to be used in career decision-making. The present study investigates the role of feedback and individual differences in goal orientation and self-efficacy in determining accuracy of self-estimates. A total sample of 94 high school-aged students gave…

A new item analysis index, e, is derived as a function of difficulty and discrimination to represent item efficiency. (Author/RC)

An empirical validation of the 114 Worker Trait Groups of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles was performed by comparing the factor structure of the worker trait components of the 114 WTG's with the factor structure of a random sample of 800 of the 4000 jobs used as the basis for DOT. (Author)

The program briefly described in this paper represents an attempt to have the computer provide the counselor with a descriptive, item interpretation of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS). The rationale of the item analysis approach to a descriptive interpretation is that each of the 135 statements (nine for each of the 15 EPPS scales)…

The present investigation involves 600 personality questionnaire items. The 300 Guilford items comprise 78 marker clusters for 15 Guilford factors; the 300 Cattell items represent marker items for 17 Cattell factors. The study involved two major analyses. In the first, the 600 x 600 matrix was factor analyzed by the Principal Factor Method,…

This is a psychometric hoax paper, the purpose of which is to indicate once again the importance of cross-validation, particularly in the development of specially-keyed inventories. The junior author and the new psychometric method play critical roles in the study. Appropriate credit and references are present. (Author)

Various factors which influence the relationship between the Rasch item characteristic curve and the actual performance of an item are identified. The Rasch item characteristic curve is a new concept in test design and analysis. The Rasch test model provides information concerning the percent of students with a specified achievement level who…

Parameter estimation for Keats generalization of the Rasch model that takes account of guessing behavior is investigated. It is shown that no minimal sufficient statistics for the ability parameters independent of the difficulty parameters exist. (Author/JKS)