Because diagnostic capability of the WISC-R has remained in doubt, its diagnostic suitability was assessed by applying Kelley's method of estimating the proportion of score differences in excess of chance to the original subscales, Bannatyne clusters, and Kaufman's three factor groupings. Caution should be used when applying WISC-R diagnostically.…

A total of 102 Spanish-speaking and 104 English-speaking preschool 4-year-old pupils were individually administered the Spanish and English versions of the Cooperative Preschool Inventory (CPI) to examine item responses for possible bias. Miminum logit chi-square regression was applied to each of the 30 items of the CPI verbal scale. Each of the…

This paper compared clinicians' diagnosis and DSM-III (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), DSM-III-R (Revised), and ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) diagnoses of 52 individuals with autism and 62 nonautistic, developmentally disordered individuals. The DSM-III-R system overdiagnosed the presence of autism, and ICD-10 closely…

Scores of 66 elementary students (referred for poor learning progress) on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) were below mean performance on all Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (SB:FE) area scores except memory. The study refutes the assertion that the PPVT-R is an appropriate screening instrument for the SB:FE.…

The psychometric integrity of a short form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress was evaluated, based on data provided by 66 mothers and 66 fathers of 33 handicapped and 33 nonhandicapped preschool children. Alpha reliability, factor structure, and construct validity analyses indicated that the measure has reasonable psychometric integrity.…

This study, involving 67 children (ages 2 to 60 months) with motor delays, found that the Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI) possessed moderate to high levels of concurrent validity with appropriate subtests from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. (Author/JDD)

Forty-five gifted children, ages 11-17, were tested with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement. Results indicated 18 of 20 correlations between the area and composite scores were significant. The Stanford-Binet Short-Term Memory standard age score mean was lower than other scores' means. (Author/JDD)

Reports a study which investigated the cross-cultural validity, reliability, and distinctiveness of the subscale structure of the Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA). Results from tests of American high school students (N=336) indicated that the seven subscales were highly reliable, but that the discriminant validity was low. (ML)

An alternative procedure is examined to compare test scores which does not require the utilization of computers and therefore, can be easily employed by classroom teachers. This technique is called the Average System: a simple way to score examinees using information obtained from a representative sample (or samples). Examinees are ranked on a…

This study, involving 20 children (ages 4-11) with severe hearing impairments, affirmed the content validity of the Clark-Madison Test of Oral Language as a measure of nonwritten expressive language with hearing-impaired children. Performance comparison with hearing individuals revealed a different profile of strengths and weaknesses than did…

Families (n=725) with young children with disabilities completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and their scores were compared with the PSI's normative sample. No differences were found between samples on parent-related stress, supporting the normality or family strengths perspective. A normative table of PSI scores for families with children…

Research studies have pointed to a similarity between reading and listening that may imply that listening to writing is likely to be a useful means of evaluating it. Therefore a study was designed to determine the extent to which holistic scores assigned to student essays by readers correlate with holistic scores assigned to the same essays by…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a specific method of measuring fathers' childrearing involvement. The conceptual scheme underlying the method addresses involvement in routine child care, play with the child, and school-related interactions. Measures involved the father's share of childrearing (as compared with the mother's) and the…

There are four reasons why comparative data is needed for student ratings of faculty performance: (1) the considerable inflation of student ratings; (2) the great variability in the way students rate different items; (3) because student rating systems must be flexible and comparable; and (4) because of factors (such as student motivation, class…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of pretesting infantry soldiers scheduled to take written Skill Qualification Tests (SQT) in order to determine their training needs prior to official testing. During the study, researchers developed and field-tested a pretest for the SQT that was based on the 11B1 Infantryman Soldier's Manual and the 1980 SQT…