The possibility that certain features of items on a reading comprehension test may lead to biased estimates of the reading achievement of particular subgroups of students was investigated. Item response data on the reading comprehension section of a frequently used achievement test were obtained from the Anchor Test Study data files. Eight…

IN RURAL AREAS, MANY PROBLEMS OF NEGRO YOUTH ORIGINATE IN THE LIMITATIONS WHICH RESULT FROM UNEDUCATED FAMILIES AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL POVERTY OF THE FAMILIES. DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES REMAIN AS AN EFFECT UPON YOUTH. THE NEGRO'S ADJUSTMENT TO RURAL LIFE AND TO SCHOOL IS NOT GOOD AS A RESULTANT OF FOUNDATIONAL UNREADINESS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE NEED…

The objectives of this workshop module are to help teachers recognize the power of their expectations to influence the behavior and perception of students, to identify commonly held expectations for the sexes and the self-fulfilling consequences of these expectations, and to examine the inappropriateness of differential expectations based on sex.…

Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), a six-scale questionnaire, yielded an overall teaching effectiveness score for 53 teachers, rated by 1,128 Anglo, black, and Chicano students in their sixth grade social studies classes in 1974-75; and for 42 teachers (33 of them the same) in 1975-76 reading classes. SET correlated substantially with analogous…

The role that measurement error plays in the regression effect is discussed with particular reference to the RMC models for evaluating the effects of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I programs. The norm referenced evaluation model assumes a theory of growth where the relative ranking of students remains the same from pretest to posttest…

The document measures the spatial patterns of mental abilities of 94 seventh-grade students within a small town by correlating and mapping four variables--IQ test scores, achievement test scores, neighborhood quality as seen by town officials, and creativity test scores from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Objectives were to ascertain the…

This study attempted to determine whether presentation of current information on men and women, their achievement patterns, and the world of work, coupled with examination of one's own stereotyped attitudes and biases, could effect both attitudinal and behavioral change in volunteer college student and academic advisor (department head)…

Since their beginning, intelligence tests have favored the higher social classes. Despite federal mandates to the contrary, bias in assessment is likely to remain a problem. Claims of test bias can be categorized as popular (naive); clinical (intuitive); statistical (predictive); and psychometric (construct and content). A literature review has…

Several major issues were raised against intelligence testing by the plaintiffs in Larry P. versus Wilson Riles. It was argued that since California used intelligence tests to ascertain who should be placed in programs for the educable mentally retarded (EMR), and since blacks performed less well on the tests than whites, it was the tests which…

Statistics and statements are presented about the comparative status of men and women in terms of income, job force participation, and other topics. The statistics cover the period 1971-75 and are taken from sources including U. S. Department of Labor and Commerce reports, issues of Monthly Labor Review, Educational Testing Service, The New York…

This amicus curiae was filed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the case of the United States of America and South Carolina Education Association v. South Carolina, which involved the validity of South Carolina's use of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE). The NTE, a battery of achievement tests designed to measure the academic…

The final report adresses the problems involved in identifying gifted minority children. Reviewed is the historical perspective of cross cultural assessment in behavioral research. Typical gross errors and misinterpretations of data in cross cultural assessment are pointed out. Among fundamental considerations listed include the use of items…

A large-scale study of the relationship between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism was made to evaluate the effects of an anthropology curriculum on students' levels of ethnocentrism. Its hypothesis is that ethnocentrism is modified by studying anthropology and, to a lesser extent, other social sciences. The design, execution, and analysis of…

This paper relates the legal requirements regarding employee selection and equal employment opportunity. The 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title VII; the interpretations of Title VII by the Equal Employment Commission; the case of Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971); and pertinent questions for employers, following the Griggs case, are examined. (Author)

The multiple-choice science exercises used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress include an "I Don't Know" (IDK) alternative to estimate more accurately knowledge of groups of respondents. Group percentages of IDK responses were examined and compared with correct responses to see if the IDK introduces bias. Variance common…