Positive values inherent in well-planned tests used in language programs are discussed in this article. The author argues that the problems of dropout rate, underachievement, discipline, and negative student attitudes can be alleviated through testing programs which include: (1) an aptitude test for selecting and sectioning students and for…

To investigate the assertion that there is a tendency for teachers to emphasize skills already mastered by their students, data were collected on 488 seventh grade mathematics students in three junior high schools. Of these, 285 were assigned to experimental classes taking the curriculum under development and 203 were assigned to comparison…

Written compositions of 200 second and third grade children were compared four times over a 2-year period to determine relationships of composition ability with intelligence and reading level. A global essay instrument developed at the University of Georgia was used for the comparisons to find out whether or not the instrument revealed any…

Scores earned on the Navy's enlisted classification tests determine, in large part, the type of job specialty training a recruit will receive. About 50% of recruits qualify for academic training in Basic Class "A" level schools. How well the classification tests predict performance in these schools is important from both a cost and a…

The Addiction Research Center Inventory is a 550 item multipurpose test measuring the broad range of physical, emotive, cognitive, and subjective effects of drugs. This manual provides technical information concerning 38 most valid scales, a quantitative method for characterizing the similarity of a profile of scores for the subject, group, or…

The report questions whether there is evidence to indicate a significant undercount of the Spanish speaking background population in the United States in the 1970 Census and whether the undercount, if any, was due to the U.S. Census Bureau's methodology, including its collection techniques. The report also notes that these issues are not unique to…

En-route Criterion Levels (ECLs) are defined as decision rules for predicting pupil readiness to advance through an instructional sequence. This study investigated the validity of present ELCs in an individualized mathematics program and tested procedures for empirically determining optimal ECLs. Retest scores and subsequent progress were…

One of a series of reading research profiles developed from the ERIC/CRIER data base, this annotated bibliography which focuses on the assessment of reading behavior is aimed primarily at researchers but is also relevant for test developers and users. The included studies cover the years 1950 to 1969 and were selected from published journal…

Twenty children (10 from a Day Care Center and 10 from a Head Start Center) were administered a 28-item, parallel form language comprehension task. The method utilized concrete materials (i.e., puppets and other familiar objects, spoon, flower, ball) which subjects manipulated when presented with sentences of 7 different grammatical constructions.…

Contents of this book include the following articles: "Genetics and competance: Do heritability indices predict educability?" Jerry Hirsch; "The role of experience in the development of competence," J. McVicker Hunt; "Intelligence-- why it grows, why it declines," John L. Horn; "The demographic context of metropolitan education," Karl E. Taeuber;…

The regression equations of first semester grade point average (GPA) on high school percentile rank (HSPR) and verbal and quantitative score on the Cooperative School and College Ability Tests (SCAT) were significantly different for men and women regularly admitted freshmen and men and women freshmen admitted to the Special Educational…

Estimates for the variance of empirically determined scoring weights are given. It is shown that test item writers should write distractors that discriminate on the criterion variable when this type of scoring is used. (Author)

The research summarized in this report was stimulated by the need for an objective, standardized measure of vocational maturity which would provide an empirical referrent for the conceptual terms of vocational development. The instrument constructed for this purpose is the Vocational Development Inventory (VDI), consisting of the Competence Test…

This study addresses itself to the development of a valid method for identifying a high-risk group of preschool children. The design used is longitudinal and attempts to relate early child and parent behavior patterns to various outcome measures as the child grows older. This paper reports the behavior patterns of a group of two-year-olds and how…

This study attempts to determine the relative ranking value of information gathering devices that could be substituted for tests of mental maturity. Results indicate that the three best devices are: a standardized test of academic achievement, a test of personality, and a self-concept inventory, all of which are easily administered, scored, and…