The Hope Scale is an 11-item teacher-rating instrument designed to help identify academic and social components of giftedness. It provides insights from teachers who work with students on a daily basis, which may differ from the type of information yielded through achievement and ability tests. The Hope Scale development was made possible by the…

This article presents a model for the identification, instruction, and assessment of gifted children. The rationale behind a unified model is outlined, and the use of the triarchic model in a variety of subject areas is described. A validation study using the model to teach high school psychology is reported. (Author/PB)

The preliminary report--two-thirds of which consists of tabular data--describes an early identification system used in London, Ontario (Canada) for kindergarten and first grade high risk students, and provides some data bearing on the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the system. Simple descriptive summaries of some characteristics…

This article describes the database of the National Repository for Instruments and Strategies Used in the Identification and Evaluation of Gifted Programs (University of Virginia). The Scale for the Evaluation of Gifted Identification Instruments is applied to the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. A sample bibliographic reference from the…

A relatively new performance-based assessment, the DISCOVER process, is presented in this review. The theoretical framework of the assessment is explained, followed by a delineation of the assessment process, checklist characteristics and development, and the tasks in the five different activities. Findings on assessment validity and reliability…

A critical review of the psychometric properties of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) model for student assessment is presented. The review criticizes the lack of validity of some of the measures but praises the goals of the system. (JKS)

On the surface, it appears that it should be quite simple to identify the characteristics of a child who is ready for school and then to assess whether or not any given child has these characteristics. But readiness is a difficult construct and one that has been the topic of great debate. Assessment of readiness is even more challenging. Policies…

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, intended for children ages 3-7, is used to diagnosis exceptional intellectual ability in school settings. Its 12 subtests measure both Performance Intelligence Quotient and Verbal Intelligence Quotient. This paper describes the test's administration, summation of data,…

The Test of Mathematical Abilities is used to identify students (ages 8-18) who are above or below age peers in 5 areas (attitude toward math, vocabulary, computation, general information, and story problems). This paper describes the test's administration, summation of data, standardization, reliability, and validity. (JDD)

The use of motor ability tests to achieve sex-fair ability groups should be considered from three standpoints--task specificity, sex differences, and individual learning differences. Motor ability is frequently described as an individual's present ability to perform motor skills. Although several motor ability tests have been constructed for…

Research activities underway as part of the Air Force's Learning Abilities Measurement Program (LAMP) are described. A major objective of the program is to devise new models of the nature and organization of human abilities, that could be applied to improve personnel selection and classification systems. The activities of the project have been…

There is a strong and consistent relationship between PSAT/NMSQT scores and AP Examination grades for nearly all courses--higher scores on the PSAT/NMSQT indicate a higher probability of success on AP Examinations. PSAT/NMSQT verbal or mathematics scores are often more highly related to AP Examination grades than overall high school GPA, number of…