This report was undertaken to help the Tennessee State government comply with federal requirements that all states collect valid, reliable, and uniform data for programs receiving federal funds as English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) adult education programs. Data must be collected to report learner gains in reading, writing, speaking, and…

Noting that the inclusion of young children with disabilities in early childhood programs has important short-term behavioral and social benefits for such children and their families and that arguments for an "ethic of inclusion" have emerged within the field, this paper maintains that much remains to be learned about the nature of early childhood…

A study used item response theory to examine the vocational interests of 2,709 high school students (1,436 males; 1,273 females) in Australia in relation to Holland's vocational interest typology (1973, 1985, 1997), which identifies six fundamental vocational types (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional) that…

This study describes preliminary research efforts to examine the validity and utility of three Spanish versions of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the most extensively used and researched rating scale of children's internalizing and externalizing emotions. The study involved: (1) identification of Spanish items that were significantly…

This bulletin on intellectual growth and development during the adolescent period is a cumulation of (1) a study of the results on certain aptitude tests used in the War Department adapted for secondary schools (2) an analysis of the research studies on the subject of intellectual abilities at the secondary school level. It is published with the…

Since 1964, colleges have been sending data to the College Board Validity Study Service in order to determine the degree to which measures used in admissions predict college performance. These studies have allowed for the monitoring of general trends in the relationship of SAT scores and high school grades with freshman grades. Beginning in the…

Two competing definitions of test fairness and their differing implications are explained and illustrated, and data from a number of published studies on test bias are reanalyzed; the focus is on unfair bias that may exist in tests that are approximately equally valid for both majority and minority groups. (Author/JM)

The Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ), a multidimensional instrument designed to measure seven facets of self-concept hypothesized in Shavelson's hierarchical model was administered to fifth- and sixth-grade students. Teachers also evaluated each student's self-concept along the same dimensions. There was substantial student-teacher agreement…

Reports on a study to validate the use of the Picture Potency Formula for predicting the extent to which pictures will stimulate story production. Twenty-four children were asked to tell stories about pictures rated by the formula as being high, medium, and low potency pictures. Discusses potential uses for the formula. (FL)

Although arbitrary, whenever multiple judgmental standard-setting procedures are utilized by different groups concurrently, stability across raters can be achieved and decisions can be made in a relatively judicious manner. Greater stability across methods (Ebel, Nedelsky, Angoff) may be effected by slightly modifying the Ebel approach. (Author/PN)

Concurrent validity studies are reported for the School Attitude Measures (SAM), a recently developed school affective assessment procedure. The studies were conducted at three grade levels (5th, 8th, 11th) with a total sample of 153 subjects. Results indicated that the SAM shows promising concurrent validity related to the criterion measures…

The relationship between memory performance in everyday life and performance on laboratory tests was investigated with normal-memory and previously severely head-injured subjects. Correlation of the two test types was found in normal-memory and long-term head-injured, but not with the recently-injured. Highest correlations were with prose recall…

Assessed the degree that home educational environment predicts reading achievement and student self-esteem in a study of 253 educationally disadvantaged urban elementary school students and their parents. Results showed home environment was a significant predictor of relative and standardized achievement as well as nonacademic self-esteem. (JAC)

Determined effect of testing frequency on data obtained using intensive time-series design. Eighth-grade, earth science student attitudes toward science class and class achievement data were not affected by frequency of data collection. Results of a previous study were also replicated, giving increased confidence in validity of data yielded by the…

The predictive validity of reading attitude, field independence, locus of control, and demographic variables for reading and mathematics achievement was investigated. Expressed Reading Difficulty, field independence, and locus of control all contributed substantially to the regression equation. (Author/CM)