Before selecting an achievement test, it is essential to determine its purpose. There are eight purposes, relating to three educational decision making contexts: (1) instructional managerial (diagnosis, course placement, career guidance); (2) screening (selection and certification) and (3) programmatic (survey assessment, formative evaluation,…

A study using two types of analyses to examine the validity of student ratings of faculty is described. The first analysis examined faculty ratings in terms of how high-achieving sections of courses rate their instructors in contrast with how low-achieving sections rate their instructors to determine if those teachers who advance their students…

A set of eight widely used inductive reasoning tests were investigated to determine whether or not they have different factorial structures. The eight inductive tests and three deductive tests, taken from the French Kit of Reference Tests for Cognitive Factors and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, were administered to 157 high school…

It is argued in this paper that generalizability theory provides a uniquely useful framework for defining and quantifying the dependability of data for decision making. It does so by requiring careful specification of the conditions of measurement and the anticipated sources of variation in the results of the measurement procedure. A distinction…

Variability in diagnostic procedures and a lack of valid and reliable measures led to the development of a comprehensive battery, which incorporated an operational definition of learning disabilities. The battery consisted of forms for observing these functions: intelligence, academic achievement, gross and fine motor control, visual perception,…

Published reports and papers pertaining to the validity of measures commonly used at college entrance are reviewed and summarized in this report. These measures consist of various types of academic quantitative indices used to describe the high school record and various types of academic tests. The data are categorized by sex and ethnic…

The history and use of intelligence testing are reviewed, with emphasis on the validity of intelligence tests for black populations. Different definitions of intelligence are summarized, followed by an historical review of intelligence testing. The work of Alfred Binet is discussed, as well as the validity and reliability of his scales. A…

A survey was conducted of achievement testing practices in the intermediate and senior divisions of French-language Ontario schools. Grades 7-8 and grades 9-10 were discussed separately. Department heads, administrators, and board of education members were interviewed concerning the availability and curricular validity of the French-language…

THE SYMBOL TEST OF ORIGINALITY (STO) WAS STUDIED AND MODIFIED TO SUBSTANTIATE ITS USEFULNESS AND TO MEET SEVERAL CRITERIA FOR TEST CONSTRUCTION--FREEDOM FROM INTELLECTUAL BIAS, SIMPLICITY, OBJECTIVITY, AND DIRECT RELATIONSHIP TO A GENERAL CREATIVITY FACTOR. FROM AN ORIGINAL GROUP OF 4,500 PERSONS RANGING IN AGE FROM 10 TO 25 YEARS, FROM FIFTH…

To predict a person's use of his Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA) training, this study attempted to supplement existing methods of evaluation, using personal descriptive data about trainees and General Aptitude Test Battery Scores. The sample under study included all students enrolled in ten MDTA projects, representing a geographical…

Theoretical and empirical research derived from Piagetian theory is collected on the intellectual development of the elementary school child and his acquisition and utilization of conservation concepts. The articles present diversity of method and motive in the results of replication (validation studies of the description of cognitive growth) and…

To determine the accuracy with which the 47-item Predictive Screening Test of Articulation (PSTA) is able to identify first grade children who will master their articulation errors without speech therapy by the time they enter third grade, two groups of children were studied who were deficient enough in speech to be enrolled in therapy, but had no…

The purpose of this first phase of a continuing research program was the development of a test of creative problem solving in general design. A design class of 186 members was divided into an experimental and control group; a non-design control group (an educational psychology class) of 45 was also tested. Multivariate interpretation of creative…

Over 200 children were tested to determine whether, of prospective first grade pupils, the 25% scoring lowest on tests of visual-motor-perceptual development would also be clustered in the lowest third of first grade performance on word recognition skills at the end of the year. Tests given upon entrance were the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test,…

The validity of the multiple-choice Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) Writing Test (1957) was tested by the University of Chicago Center for the Cooperative Study of Instruction. Seven criteria developed by the center to score essay assignments were used to determine the relationship between STEP and actual writing behavior. Of the…