The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) oral proficiency interview -- computer (OPIc) testing system represents an ambitious effort in language assessment: Assessing oral proficiency in over a dozen languages, on the same scale, from virtually anywhere at any time. Especially for users in contexts where multiple foreign…

The proportion of agreement, G, and kappa indexes are shown to differ in how they correct for chance agreements between two observers. On the basis of the findings, it is suggested that no single agreement index is appropriate for all sets of data. (Author/BW)

The purpose of this paper is to prove that one currently recommended method of obtaining the reliability of an instrument defined on a population of aggregate units is invalid. This method randomly splits the aggregate into two halves, correlates the two half unit scores by a Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, and corrects the…

Maximized correlation as an internal reliability estimate for tests with few items was investigated. An actual sampling distribution of maximum correlation--"r" max--was empirically derived from 100 samples of 50 cases each from Rorschach test data and compared with those of alpha and an odd/even split, using 2,020 Rorschach protocols.…

A procedure is developed for estimating correlations among new tests when non-overlapping sub-samples each are administered a different new test and all sub-samples are administered a set of standard tests. (JKS)

Freshmen (N=202) took two batteries of aptitude tests 10 months apart. Six pairs of tests were studied. Two pairs were identical, two were parallel, and two were completely different. This design made it possible to separate three components of practice: (a) general test sophistication, (b) specific practice effect, and (c) item familiarization.…

Developing practical achievement tests for use at the primary-grade level is a difficult task. Some problems encountered appear to be resolved by using verbally administered yes-no tests. But such tests are criticized as having a low reliability because they offer only two choices. Two modifications of the yes-no test have been proposed to…

The mean IQ on the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) was substantially higher than expected based on the earlier Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores. Sampling error and examiner error were excluded as explanations. Results suggest that the PPVT and SIT yield different scores and lack comparability. (Author)

The Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Test was developed to measure the extent to which individuals experience test anxiety. In at least two published studies, the authors claim to have used the test when in fact the response format was changed from that used in the original instrument and the "buffer" items were omitted. To investigate…

Super's Work Values Inventory is utilized in making interindividual and intraindividual comparative interpretations of work values. Internal consistency reliability coefficients for 15 scales and reliabilities of differences between scores on scales were of such a weak magnitude that caution in making interindividual and intrindividual comparisons…

Two independent studies were conducted to investigate possible differences in General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) aptitude M resulting from the use of different test equipment (wooden vs. plastic apparatus.) As part of a ten-year longitudinal study of Vocational Development being conducted in the Department of Vocational Education at The…

This study examined differences between Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores for 40 elementary students with learning disabilities. WISC-III Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance scores were lower than comparable WISC-R scores by one-third to one-half a…

A comparison of nonverbal with verbal clinical group interventions suggested that some traditional self-report devices show less differentiation between these two interventions than do measures of group cohesion. A strong, replicable manipulation tested these findings, which were consistent with previous research. (Author/BEF)

Presented is a quantitative synthesis of examiner familiarity effects on Caucasian and minority students' test performance. Fourteen controlled studies were coded in terms of methodological quality and race-ethnicity. Caucasian students performed similarly in both familiar and unfamiliar examiner conditions, while Black and Hispanic children…