Compulsivity and obsessiveness are vaguely defined terms which include a broad range of behaviors and cognitions that have been elusive to quantify. To introduce the 22-item Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (OCS) and to perform preliminary validation studies, 114 (46 male, 68 female) college students and 57 counseling clients completed the OCS on two…

This report describes a procedure that promises to improve the stability, accuracy, and efficiency of the employment of latent trait models and an application of the procedure to the Rasch model. Data were collected from the Portland Public Schools Level Tests administered to 25,740 students. Since each of the 173 items (chosen from the total…

A study was commissioned to develop and validate a test to assess the attitudes of Alberta students towards the world of work. A revised instrument was created that used 75 items grouped into 15 scales, of five items each, measuring perceptions about available opportunities. During the validation field trial the instrument was administered to 467…

Article presented three broad approaches to the problem of declining scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests after analyzing the probable causes for the turn away from student literacy. (Author/RK)

A study to evaluate seven commonly employed reading comprehension testing techniques in terms of predictive validity, difficulty and discriminability is described. (Author/RM)

Contests the value of daily performance grades as a replacement for formal testing. Course modification and testing change are seen as more effective, and it is noted that recitation grades or punitive grading for absence are often overly harsh and unjust. (CHK)

A language comprehension test using electronically distorted sentences was developed at Bar Ilan University in Israel as an attempt to measure communicative competence. Reliability coefficients, student reactions, and a sample dialogue are provided. (MSE)

Two issues in the writing of multiple-choice test items were investigated: a comparison of three versus four options; and the use of the inclusive "none of these" option versus a content option. Subjects were 220 introductory psychology students, who were enrolled at a large southwestern university, responding to a final examination in psychology…

The paper describes the development and psyhometric validation of an instrument to measure co-worker involvement with employees with handicaps in supported employment settings. The Co-worker Involvement Instrument contains 10 items pertaining to physical integration, social integration, vocational integration, training, associating frequency,…

Test validity is a concept that has often been ignored in the context of latent trait models and in modern test theory, particularly as it relates to computerized adaptive testing. Some considerations about the validity of a test and of a single item are proposed. This paper focuses on measures that are population-free and that will provide local…

Using a test-retest research design, a study examined the reliability of the Classroom Reading Inventory (CRI) and the Ekwall Reading Inventory (ERI). Independent variables of test administrator to subject, test administrator to test, subject to test, and test order were randomized. Subjects included 31 children aged 7 through 12 years. The four…