The paper reviews and critiques the Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Children (ABIC) from the perspective of its utility in the assessment of adaptive behavior for special education eligibility. It is explained that the ABIC, a parent interview consisting of questions about a child's home and community activities, has recently been normed and used…

Five Ohio school districts, both large and small, participated in a year-long needs assessment study, following activities specified in the Ohio Needs Assessment Guidelines. Following interviews with the needs assessment coordinator at each district, researchers summarized problem areas related to each of 15 activities corresponding to the eight…

The purposes of this paper are to explore and present various opinions concerning the nature of functional literacy and the questions involved in assessing the extent to which one is or is not functionally literate, and to describe one instrument designed to measure functional literacy. The major sections of the paper provide information on the…

Because a critical issue in current assessment efforts is the widespread use of technically inadequate tests, the study examined tests chosen by 159 school professionals during a computer simulation of placement decision making about potentially handicapped students. Chi square analysis showed technically adequate devices were chosen…

The reliability of short versus long passages in informal reading inventories was compared. After 132 fourth grade students were tested with the Standard Reading Inventory, Form B, they read longer passages in either the oral or silent modes. Students with higher silent reading scores read long passages orally, while students with higher oral…

The paper examines the usefulness of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) subtest score pattern for distinguishing between groups of handicapped children, specifically learning disabled and emotionally disturbed students. The author asserts that no single clear cut pattern characteristic of either population is likely to…

A review of the research literature considers the following questions: (1) what is the general quality of the information resulting from systematic student evaluation of faculty effectiveness?; and (2) what are the consequences of soliciting this information and making it available to those people who may utilize it in their decision making…

Certain conditions are investigated as to whether they are necessary or sufficient to indicate the fairness of a test, or predictor, in its role in the college admissions procedure. Eight general positions are considered that have claimed to provide sufficient conditions for the unbiasedness of a standardized test or predictor: (1) equal test…

A correlational study was done on the effect of acquiescence response set upon Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People (OP) scale. Couch and Keniston's Agreement Response (AR) scale was used as the measure of acquiescence tendency. Both scales were administered to 61 second year medical students and 44 individuals who were undergoing training in…

The effects of family background on adolescents' IQ, aptitude, and school achievement test scores challenge some of the usual beliefs about the fairness of achievement rather than IQ tests, and the role of genetic differences among individuals and social class groups in academic achievements. Subjects included 115 adoptive families with adolescent…

An investigation of self-statements, test anxiety and academic achievement studied 426 college students. Research methodology is defined, demographics and student profiles for both facilitative and debilitative test anxiety are presented, with the resulting findings for each testing component. The student profile for high facilitative test anxiety…

The most important competence in using language is not to be discovered in the anatomy of isolated features but in the holistic view of writing and speaking in context. Three general views of education can be summarized as defining the learner as willfully ignorant, needing to be whipped into shape; as a blank tablet or empty jug, waiting to be…

Because latent trait models require that large numbers of items be calibrated or that testing of the same large group be repeated, item parameter estimates are often obtained by administering separate tests to different groups and "linking" the results to construct an adequate item pool. Four issues were studied, based upon the analysis…

The value of proctor written feedback on college students' graded quizzes in a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) was investigated. In Experiment I, the amount of time 67 students reviewed their graded quizzes was determined. Results indicated that 63% of the students did not review their graded quizzes, suggesting students do not use the…

Experience in evaluating responses to poetry in the Advanced Placement Examination can offer guidelines for the effective testing of students on poetry without reducing their interest in the art. For advanced secondary or first-year college students, teachers should avoid approaches and tests that are concerned with (1) extraneous biographical,…