A study was conducted at North Harris County College to determine the extent to which its Developmental Studies Program (DSP) was meeting stated goals and to assess the predictive reliability of the screening tests used to place incoming students in DSP courses. The study involved: (1) an assessment of the need for the DSP program as evidenced by…

Language arts teachers participated in an inservice program, The Writer's Clinic, and evaluated their students' improvement in writing ability using holistic essay scoring techniques. Seventh and eighth grade students were administered an essay composition pretest in December; the same essay topic was given as the post test in May. Students were…

The Student Achievement Diagnostic Questionnaire (SADQ) is described as measuring: (1) student self concept of ability in English, mathematics, science, and social studies; (2) student attitudes toward their teachers in each of the subjects; (3) student perception of the expectations these teachers have for student achievement in these subjects;…

Widely used measures of creativity are reviewed and classified into ten categories: tests of divergent thinking; attitude and interest inventories; personality inventories; biographical inventories; teacher nominations; peer nominations; supervisor ratings; judgments of products; nomination of eminent persons; and self-reported creative activities…

Conference speakers reviewed and analyzed the current thinking underlying the basic concepts of test norms, reliability, and validity. Roger T. Lennon's paper called for more attention to the development of norming theory and summarized current norming practices and the establishment of a system which would permit comparable norms for tests which…

Materials utilizing a simulated environment approach were developed, produced, pilot tested, and evaluated to determine their usefulness as media for training programs and for behavioral research in the process of administration of special education. Background and task materials took the form of both written and audiovisual media, featuring a…

The Wisconsin Administrative Practice Scale: Special Education (WAPS) is a self-administering survey instrument designed to measure implementation of 162 selected administrative practices and policies used to coordinate diagnostic units for handicapped children. One hundred thirty-five items are grouped into seven subscales each consisting of…

In past Head Start evaluations, cognitive measures have been weighed heavily. This has not accurately reflected the relative unimportance of cognitive program goals; child performance gains are not an objective with high priority for most Head Start programs. Evaluation planners need to weigh previously encountered measurement problems carefully…

The purpose of the study was to develop a course-evaluation form for the assessment of student-centered courses. The development of the instrument was derived from theoretical views of student-courses which suggested five dimensions. The dimensions included bases of power, positive classroom environment, personal meaningfulness, student…

A test battery was developed to measure 18 goals delineated by Phi Delta Kappa with an additional three added on. The purpose of the test was to assist school districts in needs assessment and program evaluation. The battery contained the following tests: Civics, Human Relations, Language/Reasoning, General Knowledge, Self, Careers, Arts and…

In studies conducted in the Baltimore City Public Schools by the Office of Pupil and Program Monitoring and Appraisal (OPPMA), pre-kindergarten pupils were found to be "growing scholastically". A program, Early School Admissions Program (ESAP) was based on nine objectives established to prepare pre-schoolers for "reading…

A Blind Learning Aptitude Test (BLAT) was developed on the basis of sense of touch rather than on conventional experience, fine sensory discrimination, or verbal competency. From a pool of about 350 items, most of them used in testing intelligence in the sighted, a pool of 94 was selected and embossed after the manner of braille. A residual pool…

The development of one instrument from a multi-method battery to assess exploration preferences, a questionnaire of individual preferences, is described. The objectives of the study in which it was employed and the concept of exploration are briefly outlined. Over 1000 questionnaire items relevant to high school students' social desirability were…

Seventeen 1971 AERA presentations concerning new measurement procedures or new application of old procedures are summarized. Papers are grouped as follows: 1) statistics and measurements of interest to classroom teachers; 2) measures appropriate for use by a specialist; 3) research reports that increase knowledge of existing devices. (MS)

The objectives of this study were twofold: first, to develop an improved version of the instruments used to measure Goal IV (Attitude Toward School and School Learning) at the fifth and eleventh grade levels in the public schools of Pennsylvania under a program of "Educational Quality Assessment" mandated by the legislature. Secondly, it was the…