The purposes of this paper are to (1) discuss general issues related to a newly proposed methodology for item content and construct validation and (2) apply the new method in the context of developing a scale for measuring attitudes toward black people. Latent partition analysis was proposed and applied for the study of item content validity using…

New strategies for evaluation criterion referenced measures (CRM) are discussed. These strategies examine the following issues: (1) the use of normed referenced measures (NRM) as CRM and then estimating the reliability and validity of such measures in terms of variance from an arbitrarily specified criterion score, (2) estimation of the…

Item analysis was made of results of a national achievement testing program of nearly 19,000 primary and secondary school hearing impaired students enrolled in special educational programs in the Spring of 1971. Testing instrument was the Stanford Achievement Test Series (Form W). Individual test items or descriptions of the academic information…

A scaling technique known as the Method of Reciprocal Averages has been in use since the early 1930's. This technique yields a set of item response weights for a psychological inventory which maximizes the internal consistency of the inventory for a group of subjects. Although the technique has been used for many years, its mathematical…

AN INSTRUMENT WAS DEVELOPED THAT COULD BE USED FOR ESTABLISHING THE CORE OF PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGES AND ABILITIES REQUIRED IN TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR VOCATIONAL TEACHERS IN FIVE AREAS. THE DISCIPLINES REPRESENTED IN THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFICATION INCLUDED (1) TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION, (2) BUSINESS EDUCATION, (3) HOME ECONOMICS EDUCATION, (4)…

A factor analysis of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) battery was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the specific abilities which contribute to performance on the tests. To determine whether greater amounts of testing time should be allocated to groups of items defined by the factor analysis, a validity study was conducted. Existing…

Concommitant with changes in education, health care roles, and evaluation in recent years, a new six year combined B.S. and M.D. program was inititated at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Evaluation was integrated into the academic plan in order to assess student progress toward the overall goal of becoming a safe physician, as well as…

A method of analysis is developed which accounts for whatever variance is present in the responses to test items, additive, configural or the two combined. The method is applied to successive column matrices which report frequencies or endorsements by categories of subjects to answer alternative sets of test items. Approaches are included which…

Item correlations performed between student ratings of instruction in various situations clearly indicate that student ratings are consistent across time, but that this consistency is related to specific educational settings and conditions as well as instructor idiosyncracies. (RC)

The author compares traditional test items with modified versions of the same test items for the purpose of making test questions more pertinent to the realities of daily life. (RK)

The use of the standard deviation of item ratings as a criterion of scale anchor selection is criticized. An alternative criterion based on item intercorrelation procedures is suggested and tested. Results indicate that the alternative criterion does not lead to the negative outcomes of the standard deviation criterion. (Author/JKS)

Describes the development, objectives, content, and evaluation of a unique, 60-minute, synchronized slide/tape program on prehospital burn care for emergency medical technicians; and presents a design for valid content-reference formative evaluation. (Author/VT)

Through reference to the "Edmonton Grade 111 Achievement Study: 1956-1977 Comparisons" this research attempts to dispel the uncertainty associated with current curricular validity of old tests. Examines five standardized tests used in the Edmonton Study, which were first given in 1956 and designed to measure basic skills. (Author/RK)

Employed the Personal Health Survey (PHS) to study patterns of symptomology related to physical and mental health in a population of 730 Ss, which consisted of five groups: felons, hospitalized alcoholics, unmarried mothers, college students and institutionalized schizophrenics. (Editor)

Several important implications in latent trait theory, with implications for individualized or tailored testing, are pointed out. A way of using the information function in tailored testing in connection with the standard error estimation of the ability level using maximum likelihood estimation is suggested. (Author/JKS)