The reliability and validity of the Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale was examined for 350 American community college students, ranging in age from 17 to 59. The attributions of ability, effort, context, and luck emerged as well as distinctions between attributions related to academic success or failure. (Author/PN)

Providing additional data concerning the reliability and discriminant validity of Aiken's Enjoyment of Mathematics and Value of Mathematics Scales resulted in a degree of correlation between scales lower than for Aiken's data. Also, the view that the scales measure different aspects of attitude toward mathematics was supported. (PN)

Uses case study data from three young readers to examine the assumption that commercial informal reading inventories are as reliable as teacher made tests. Questions that assumption. (FL)

Reviews the Spadafore Diagnostic Reading Test, which is used to determine decoding and reading comprehension levels and to give detailed diagnostic information. Concludes that it is not an improvement on similar inventories published previously. (HOD)

The presently viewed role and utility of measures of instructional sensitivity are summarized. A case is made that the rationale for the assessment of instructional sensitivity can be applied to all achievement tests and should not be restricted to criterion-referenced mastery tests. (Author/BW)

Administered the TEMAS (Tell Me a Story) test to 73 public school and 210 clinical Puerto Rican children. Story content was scored for nine personality functions and descriptive indexes. Results indicated internal consistency and interrater reliability. TEMAS indexes significantly discriminated between school and clinical samples. (BH)

Examined the reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) for different racial groups, using a sample of 1,975 Black and White college students. Results showed the NCQ significantly predicted persistence for Black students and predicted grades for both groups. (JAC)

The "Children's Science Curiosity Scale" is composed of 30 Likert-like items which examine various curiosity factors in the context of science learning. Internal consistency, test-retest reliabilities, and validity of the instrument were investigated. Sex differences using the instrument were also investigated. (JN)

Reports on a study that compared the potential validity, reliability, and costs of several direct and indirect measures of writing. (HOD)

Demonstrates that the reflection-impulsivity dimension is related to some reading tasks but not others. Finds in particular that not all word recognition tasks are affected by conceptual tempo. (FL)

The accuracy issues involved in detecting student writing skill deficiencies, factors to be dealt with or controlled, and procedural and statistical methods for controlling these factors are the focus of this article. The accuracy needed for effective instructional planning requires stability in writing assessment programs. (DWH)

This article is a one-year review of available research and an appraisal of the Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R). This instrument consistently demonstrates adequate alternate form equivalence across samples and consistently evidences significantly lower standard scores than its earlier version and traditional cognitive tests…

The Self-Description Questionnaire III (SDQ III) was designed to measure 13 factors of self-concept. The reliabilities of the factors were high, and correlations among them were low. Academic achievement measures in language and mathematics were correlated with self-concepts in the same areas but not with other self-concept factors. (Author/DWH)

Assessed the reliability and validity of an instrument designed to assess the extent of alcohol and drug use. Factors in a school or community contributing to use of alcohol and drugs are identified. Uses of the results for school and community planning are included. (Author/JAC)

Test-retest data (six-month interval) collected on preadolescent student self-concepts, teachers' ratings of student self-concepts, and academic ability provided strong support for the construct validity of self-concept. The multiple dimensions of self-concept showed a logical and consistent pattern of relationships with a variety of criteria.…