Rasch and classical test analysis methods were compared with respect to their similarities and differences in the identification of noninformative items and implausible person records. Using computer simulated data with known parameters, each model was evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in: (1) identifying noninformative or "bad"…

THE YOUTH OPINION QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DEVELOPED TO DETERMINE THE ATTITUDES, NEEDS, EXPECTATIONS, BELIEFS, AND PERCEPTIONS OF THRESHOLD WORKERS WITH REGARD TO THE WORLD OF WORK, THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO ENTRY WORK EXPERIENCE. AN INITIAL POOL OF APPROXIMATELY 600 ITEMS WAS COMPILED FROM…

With no previous training in data processing, a teacher can set up a computer scoring program for objective test materials that will save many hours of manual work in test correction, scoring, ranking, and item analysis. Teachers, school administrators, and counselors can employ statistical information contained in computer printout sheets to plan…

This report summarizes the findings of Jackson and Lahadern who used a revised form of the Student Opinion Poll (SOP) and a questionnaire to study the intercorrelations of attitudes and achievement. The study found that: (1) first graders have attitudes toward school work but these attitudes were not differentiated toward specific school subjects;…

The Washington Pre-College (WPC) Testing Program, together with experimental tests administered in Spring 1969, was analyzed to instigate a new guidance system for high school juniors and seniors. Initially, WPC employed predictors established on an already selected intellectual group. New test predictors were needed to match the complexity of the…

This is a research report concerned with the availability of computer programs which made it advisable to try not only the factors dictated by a criterion, but successive additional factors until the meaning of the pattern is clarified. Examples illustrate the application of sequential factor analyses using a principal axes solution and varimax…

Procedures for analyzing common item effects on interscale structure were reviewed and a study using smallest space analysis of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) reported. Solutions of three matrices--intercorrelation matrix of the original CPI scales, of reduced scales (with common items removed), and of the number of common…

Forty-three students participated in a laboratory experiment involving estimation of qualitative similarity between items sampled from ten conventional tests of intellectual performance. Estimated similarity could tentatively be described as a function of positive inter-test correlations as determined from another group of 123 individuals with the…

It has been argued that item variance and test variance are not necessary characteristics for criterion-referenced tests, although they are necessary for norm-referenced tests. This position is in error because it considers sample statistics as the criteria for evaluating items and tests. Within a particular sample, an item or test may have no…

A good criterion-referenced test item is defined as the one which allows the individual to answer correctly if he masters the criterion behavior represented by the item and answer incorrectly if he actually does not master it. Therefore, a good discriminating item for criterion-referenced tests is the one which has a larger proportion of correct…

A structured preliminary interview for children grades 1 to 3 was devised to obtain information on the kinds of situations relevant to seven hypothesized value dimensions based on the following categories of needs: 1) physiological, 2) safety, 3) love, 4) esteem, 5) aesthetic, 6) self-actualization, and, 7) aggression. A total of 23 children from…

A new test for auditory perception (Auditory Analysis Test) was given to 284 kindergarten through grade 6 children. The instrument, consisting of 40 items, asks the testee to repeat a spoken word, then to repeat it again without certain specified phonemic elements--such as a beginning, ending or medially-positioned sound. Seven categories of item…

The purpose of this study was to construct-validate the REPI. The judgmental data of 25 content specialists were examined. The response data of 416 students were item analyzed and submitted to principal components analyses with orthogonal and oblique rotations. The items were generally representative of the content universe and 50 items optimally…

The validity of an evaluation model for mastery testing applications was investigated. Three variables were tested in an experiment using 96 third grade subjects--amount of training, number of alternates in an item, and number of items. The concept hierarchy involved an orderly progression from a concept involving one relevant of three varying…

Results of research conducted to ascertain the effect on test grades of changing answer choices are presented. The main questions that were examined were: (1) Does the changing of responses to test items (presumably based upon item reconsideration) result in better test scores?; (2) Is the amount of changes related to the score a person receives…