Instruments used to measure creativity by 418 school districts as part of their identification procedures for gifted programs were studied. Results indicated that districts often select instruments for assessing creativity without attending to the definition of the construct. Creativity is often assessed in ways that may not be valid or reliable.…

A study analyzed constructs surrounding 45 Nepalese master's students' approaches to and conceptions of learning. Interviews indicated that few students had more than a low level of insight into their learning processes, most used surface learning strategies, and most achieved low-level learning outcomes. Findings cast doubt on the construct…

Assessed the reliability and validity of Cole's four-item version of the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire (SBQ). Clinical outpatients and undergraduates completed the SBQ and other measures. Results indicated the SBQ's strength lay in two areas: internal consistency and test-retest reliability over a two-week time period. (RJM)

Reports results of analyses of key tables in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Atlas of Type Tables. Significant age group effects on every dimension indicates the need to reestimate population norms for each continuum on the MBTI for interpreting scores of people of various ages. (LKS)

Examined Beck's cognitive theory by analyzing relationships between depressive symptomatology and various measures of distorted, negative cognitive processes. Results demonstrated that high school students' greater levels of depressive symptomatology on the Beck Depression Inventory were most significantly associated with higher scores on both the…

Presents two studies that examined the component structure of the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) in unmarried college students. In Study 1, analyses revealed a four-component solution. For Study 2, the samples' component solution was consistent with those found in earlier studies of the CTS with married samples. Implications are discussed. (RJM)

Issues affecting the perceived competence and credibility of children's courtroom narratives are considered, with attention to the communicative contract and common communicative assumptions such as sincerity. The effects of children's development of comprehension monitoring skills and a theory of mind on their ability to give competent eyewitness…

Investigated Swedish parents' conceptions of day-care center quality and the relation between Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and parents' ratings of day-care centers. Found that for parents, main functions of day care were education and social development, rather than convenience to family. Found moderate but statistically…

Interrelated analyses were conducted with more than 4,000 college students to examine the reliability and validity of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and to develop and validate a short version of the scale. Results provide moderate support for the reliability and validity of both the TPQ and the short form. (SLD)

Data analysis approaches for program evaluation under the conditions of natural experiments are explored, using evaluation of the DARE program of drug use prevention among elementary school students as an example. The suggested methodology uses multiple independent analyses to demonstrate the convergence or divergence of program outcomes. (SLD)

Suggested are ways to improve the SAT and its face validity. Suggestions include greater emphasis on more-realistic problems, inclusion of realistic percent problems, modification of the multiple-choice format, and the use of the National Council of Mathematics "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards" as a guide to construct the test. (MDH)

This study developed a validation procedure for identifying oral vocabulary related to occupational awareness and produced a list of terms appropriate for curriculum development in career education for students with mild disabilities at the middle school level. The process used 33 teacher participants and involved sorting candidate words for…

This study, with 66 regular classroom children and 52 children with learning disabilities, found high correlations among the Cognitive Levels Test, the KeyMath-Revised measure, and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised. Overall, 81 percent of subjects were correctly classified using the three-instrument battery. (Author/DB)

Several analyses are presented on the relationships among the Test of Spoken English, Test of Written English, and Test of English as a Foreign Language. The multivariate prediction of each test from the scores on the others is very accurate; variances with two prominent factors may relate to specific cognitive test-taking skills. (eight…

This article reviews the literature addressing uses of the American College Testing College Outcome Measures Program (ACT COMP), the most frequently used standardized measure of cognitive general education outcomes. It concludes that worthwhile evaluations of ACT COMP uses require well-crafted general education program evaluations. Recommendations…