In high-stakes writing assessments, rater training in the use of a rating scale does not eliminate variability in grade attribution. This realisation has been accompanied by research that explores possible sources of rater variability, such as rater background or rating scale type. However, there has been little consideration thus far of…

The practice of handing out excellent grades to students who don't deserve them (grade inflation) is not a new phenomenon. Indeed grade inflation is among the oldest and most difficult issues to address in higher education. The author first studied the impact of grade inflation on student performance on standardized tests at the high school level…

Using generalizability theory, this study examined both the rating variability and reliability of ESL students' writing in the provincial English examinations in Canada. Three years' data were used in order to complete the analyses and examine the stability of the results. The major research question that guided this study was: Are there any…

This study was conducted to determine whether the administration of translation of an English language, teacher attitude test to teachers of other cultures would measure the same things as does its English original. The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI) was given to 509 French Canadian elementary school teachers, and the factor structure…

Describes study using Self-Directed Search vocational interest inventory with 75 Canada Native high school students. Finds the inventory reliable and stable for use with Indian students. (LFL)

This paper is part 3 of Research Department Report Number 123, "Exploring the T.R.Q.: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Teachers' Rating Questionnaire," which gave questionnaire users information necessary to tailor the instrument to their own needs. Retention of TRQ questions which generated good distributions of teacher ratings…

This report assesses the validity, reliability, and efficiency of the Teachers' Rating Questionnaire (TRQ), a pupils' school success measure developed in connection with a 1961 longitudinal Study of Achievement. TRQ ratings on nearly 14,000 pupils, gathered in the Study of Achievement and a New Canadian Report, constituted the data source.…

The field testing process for the collection of data on the norms, reliability, and concurrent validity of the Career Decision-Making System (CDM) is described. The CDM is a comprehensive career planning instrument that surveys interests, values, abilities, and training plans and relates them to career information in client-oriented interpretive…