Offers a humorous look at the problem of assessment. (FL)

Looks at ERIC documents that deal with readability concerns. (FL)

The 1985 edition of the American Psychological Association's "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" has greatly expanded its coverage of the testing of handicapped students. Recent surveys of practitioners' knowledge of basic testing and measurement concepts suggest the need for extensive in-service training if these…

Evaluated interscorer reliability of the Spatial Memory subtest, which appears on the Simultaneous Processing scale of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. Responses from 19 gifted children were scored by two independent examiners. Results showed this subtest may be prone to scoring errors because no permanent record of responses exists.…

Common problems in using and scoring the Developmental Sentence Scoring procedure to quantify young children's grammatic structure expressive language are reviewed. Scoring examples are provided to help clinicians learn the DDS procedure. (Author/CL)

Hypothesizes that children may misunderstand the task required by Piaget's test and that researchers may therefore underestimate the children's cognitive capacities. Tests the hypothesis by dividing 48 children of both sexes into two groups, those taking the standard tests and those taking a test restructured to limit ambiguity. (BE)

A study of the extent to which two popular Published Reading Inventories (PRIs) identify the same instructional level when administered to 50 children in grades 1 through 7 demonstrate a significant lack of congruence between the instruments, particularly at the intermediate grade levels. (Author/CL)

The paper discusses concepts fundamental to proper use of norm-referenced tests, considers common errors in the use, and suggests alternatives to norm-referenced testing for certain assessment purposes. A hypothetical client is used to illustrate errors including the use of age-equivalent scores as the sole summary of test results. (Author/CL)

Positive and negative features of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children are examined from an information processing perspective. The author suggests that the test should not be used in place of the Stanford-Binet or the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-Revised. (CL)

Examined the P scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire in three samples of normal Canadian and Japanese students who obtained either very high or very low means on the P scale. Psychometric problems were identified in the sample with a low P mean. Recommended that the scale be renamed. (JAC)

The authors respond to Brandt's critique (TM 508 782) of their work. They object to the unsupported criticism and indications that they "overgeneralize." They assert that cultural differences need not imply deficit. The needs of American Indian children demand the application of a variety of perspectives and interdisciplinary skills.…

The influence of scale format on results was examined. Two Likert type formats, one with all choice points defined and one with only end-points defined, were administered. Each subject completed half the items in each format. Results indicated little difference between forms, nor did subjects indicate a format preference. (Author/DWH)

The article emphasizes the application of minimum testing programs to deaf students and provides background information regarding the nature of minimum competency testing programs and on major issues regarding implementation and use of testing procedures. Information regarding the development of minimum competency testing programs for deaf…

Construct validation theory is founded upon conflicting metaphysical principles, methodological approaches, and standards of adequacy. This paper explores these unrecognized conflicts and indicates some consequences that these conflicts have for construct validation theory. (Author/PN)

This digest discusses sources of error in testing, several approaches to estimating reliability, and several ways to increase test reliability. Reliability has been defined in different ways by different authors, but the best way to look at reliability may be the extent to which measurements resulting from a test are characteristics of those being…