In evaluating the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (a test for assessing expressive and receptive grammar in preschool and primary age children), the author points out problems with the test norms, reliability, and validity. (SBH)

The author responds to W. Arndt's criticisms of the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, a test for assessing receptive and expressive grammar in young children. (SBH)

It would appear that there is a lack of convincing evidence especially regarding the reliability of the Matching Familiar Figures test over short intervals and with older children. As the test is now being used for diagnostic purposes in education, more information is required, and here the MFF is examined in older children using a split-half…

Examines why profile analysis "adds spurious specificity and misarticulated authority to quasi-diagnostic statements." Concludes that the difficulties inherent in diagnostic reading tests suggest that they are best utilized in comparing a child's performance with a norm group. (JM)

Students know more than they think they know, so guessing gives better scores even when there's a penalty for errors. (JM)

This study compared the item difficulty, item discrimination, and test reliability of three forms of multiple-choice items: (1) one correct answer; (2) "none of the above" as a foil; and (3) "none of the above" as the correct answer. Twelve items in the three formats were administered in a college statistics examination. (BS)

Because of limitations in simple gain scores, pychometrists have proposed alternate methods for measuring change, two of which are residualized difference and base-free change. This paper provides large sample empirical estimates of the reliability these change measures. It checks theoretical predictions derived from inequalities involving all…

The paper describes the "Early Social Communication Scales" designed to assess social and communication skills typically acquired in the first 30 months of life. Stressed is the role of the tester as an interactive partner for the infant. Reliability data suggesting reliability over time with the same partner are presented. (Author/DB)

An instrument designed to measure teacher job satisfaction was developed using randomly selected elementary, junior high school, and senior high school teachers. Factor analysis was undertaken as an exploratory technique to help discover underlying factors and as a psychometric procedure for the development and refinement of the instrument.…

Comments on Kerwin et al.'s article on Covariance Structure analysis (LISREL). Concerns include assumptions about requirements for causal inferences, psychometric properties of measurement scales, validity of the indicators of each latent variable, completeness of the structural model, linearity of the latent variables, and the joint distribution…

Psychometric characteristics of the test scores of 5,663 examinees on six patient management problem tests were studied. The total scores can be divided into subscores based on all options keyed "select" and "omit." Component scores are generally correlated negatively, as reflected in reduced discrimination indices and…

A questionnaire to assess verbal and visual learning styles was developed based on the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire and analyzed, using a total of 477 college students in three studies. The three scales developed had adequate reliability and construct validity. The verbal learning style was most strongly correlated with verbal ability, but…

The authors tested the validity and reliability of a set of three assessment instruments for generalizable communications skills on a population of handicapped students who were enrolled in regular secondary vocational programs. Data suggest that these instruments are highly consistent internally, homogeneous, and precise measures of generalizable…