Tested a model of family conflict and coercion that linked economic stress in family life to adolescent symptoms of internalizing and externalizing emotions and behaviors. Subjects were 378 seventh graders and their families in rural Iowa. Found that spousal irritability and hostile exchanges over money matters increased the likelihood of…

The Health Teaching Self-Efficacy (HTSE) Scale was devised to measure perceived deficits in ability at pretest and changes in self-efficacy in response to intervention. HTSE was tested on 31 school health teachers and was found to be highly reliable and internally consistent. (MDM)

This study investigated the validity of 3 curriculum-based measures for predicting the performance of 184 secondary students (including 13 with mild disabilities) on content-area tasks. Reliable correlations were found between oral reading, maze, and vocabulary measures; and students' performance on comprehension, acquisition, and retention of…

This introduction to a clinical forum on children with speech, language, and hearing difficulties focuses on assessment validity. The paper emphasizes that assessment validity depends on the purpose for which the clinician employs the assessment and the inferences the clinician intends to draw, and that assessment interpretation involves degrees…

A 3-factor solution of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised (WAIS-R) in 260 adults with suspected head injury suggested relatively good construct validity for the factors, based on correlations with neuropsychological tests. Findings are discussed in terms of the multidimensional nature of neuropsychological tests and WAIS-R factors.…

This study analyzed the performance of 30 children (ages 9-11) with central auditory processing disorders (CAPD), to test the validity of the Auditory Continuous Performance Test in differentiating between CAPD with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results indicated limited potential of the test in the differential…

Low-achieving second graders experienced a year of transactional strategies instruction (n=30) or highly regarded, more conventional second-grade reading instruction (n=30). The group receiving transactional strategies instruction had greater strategy awareness and use, greater acquisition of material read, and superior performance on standardized…

Summarizes plaintiffs' and defendants' opinions in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case concerning why some minority students fail TAAS, history of racial/ethnic discrimination in Texas schools, students' opportunity to learn TAAS content, teaching-TAAS alignment, adverse impact on minority students, psychometric integrity, decision…

Examines the response of one high school to three of the explicit aims of the Kentucky writing portfolio assessment. Suggests limitations to the presumed validity of the assessment by revealing some of the intended and unintended consequences of the state's attempt to use the assessment to shape school writing programs, to encourage classroom…

Results are presented from two studies involving 190 primary and high school students and 146 primary students with reading difficulties. These studies contributed toward the development of five 200 word standardized passages which may be employed interchangeably to monitor the performance of students with reading difficulties towards achieving…

The cultures of accountability and validity are at odds in high-stakes testing. When the polis demands that tests serve high-stakes accountability functioning, professional testing standards are often compromised. Using flawed indicators can produce unreliable, unrepresentative inferences and decisions. High-stakes testing produces teaching and…

Five criteria are proposed for evaluating performance in research studies: the directness of sampling, the responsiveness of the target, the reliability of the observers, the frequent assessment of the target during the intervention period, and the critical nature of the target. A case study illustrates effectiveness of the criteria. (Author/CR)

Explored applicability of the Loevinger conception of ego development for early adolescence and developed a measure of earliest ego levels: Sentence Completion Test for Children and Youth. Found oral administration of test did not yield essentially different responses or significantly differing ego-level scores from the written version, regardless…

This article provides in-depth information regarding the most commonly used instruments for the screening or diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. Reliability, validity, format, and target population are presented to help clinicians select appropriate diagnostic measures. Future directions in the development of new instruments are discussed.…

Describes as example a parents' center in London to examine impact of evaluation exercises on people and services being evaluated. Questions whether evaluators are measuring the right things, whether evidence is valid, and what effects an evaluation may have on services. Identifies features of research and evaluation that are most likely to…