Among the measurement techniques receiving greater attention is the context-dependent item set or testlet. The context-dependent item set consists of a scenario and related test questions. This item format is generally believed to be able to tap higher level thinking. Unfortunately, this item form leads to inter-item dependence within item sets…

The Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (CSBS) were developed to standardize communication sampling procedures in assessing preverbal and early verbal stage children. To assess interrater reliability in using the scales with children with developmental disabilities, eight children (ages 33-113 months) with developmental disabilities were…

Students at grades four and five were administered a writing assessment that was developed to correspond to the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) writing tasks at grade four. Teachers were trained to score the CLAS-like tasks according to the rubric developed by the State for CLAS. In addition, 164 students at three schools in the…

This study examined the relationship between scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) and the older Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). School psychologists in Wisconsin were asked to provide data on 300 special education re-evaluations completed during the 1992-93 academic year. Pearson product…

Test-retest reliabilities and practice effect magnitudes were considered for nine computer-simulated tasks of everyday cognition and five traditional neuropsychological tests. The nine simulated everyday memory tests were from the Memory Assessment Clinic battery as follows: (1) simple reaction time while driving; (2) divided attention (driving…

The lack of systematic psychometric information on the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) was addressed by investigating the factor structure and reliability of the eight-factor clinical scale model (mental illness, cry for help, right to die, religion, impulsivity, normality, aggression, and moral evil), developed for interpreting responses to…

The merits and disadvantages of standardized and informal reading tests for limited English proficient readers are discussed. A growing reliance on standardized ("formal") tests due to their ease of administration and scoring is criticized because the tests are seen as: inadequate for describing students at high and low ends of the scale; not…

A project is reported that developed a test for students in foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) programs. Relevant tests in Spanish and English as a Second Language (ESL) were reviewed in order to develop a listening and reading test that could determine achievement in a typical FLES curriculum. Pilot testing was conducted with 121…

Some of the issues regarding the estimation of reliability for performance assessments are explored, and a methodology is suggested for determination of reliability. In performance assessment, the magnitude of the reliability coefficient may be less than that obtained for a standardized test, since part of the potential use of performance…

Past research has suggested that the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMS) is a brief, reliable, and valid measure of marital satisfaction. This study was conducted to: (1) examine responses on the KMS from a national sample of couples; (2) assess the construct validity of the KMS through a comparison with the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment…

The study evaluated the validity, reliability, and effectiveness in providing needed information of the Montana Functional Vision Assessment (MFVA) Instrument by comparing it with the Texas Education Agency Functional Vision Assessment and field testing the instrument in evaluations of nine multihandicapped students (ages 3-11). Evaluation led to…

The Art Self-Concept Inventory (ASCI) was developed as a situation specific self-concept instrument to measure the students' ideas and feelings about themselves in the art context. Art self-concept was defined as students' perceptions of themselves as makers, as judges, and as enjoyers of art. To top these dimensions of art self-concept, items…

The report describes goals and accomplishments of a project to develop and validate an assessment battery of leisure functioning in handicapped children. The battery was intended to meet the need created by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and provide data for the assessment of recreation and leisure functioning as part of the…

Compulsivity and obsessiveness are vaguely defined terms which include a broad range of behaviors and cognitions that have been elusive to quantify. To introduce the 22-item Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (OCS) and to perform preliminary validation studies, 114 (46 male, 68 female) college students and 57 counseling clients completed the OCS on two…

This report describes a procedure that promises to improve the stability, accuracy, and efficiency of the employment of latent trait models and an application of the procedure to the Rasch model. Data were collected from the Portland Public Schools Level Tests administered to 25,740 students. Since each of the 173 items (chosen from the total…