School leadership research literature has a large number of widely used constructs. Could fewer constructs bring more clarity? This study evaluates construct content validity, defined as the extent to which a measure's items reflect a theoretical content domain, in school leadership literature. To do so, we reviewed 29 articles that used Teaching…

Purpose and background: The purpose of this paper is to critically review the traditional and contemporary validation frameworks--the content, criterion, and construct validations; the evidence-gathering; the socio-cognitive model; the test usefulness; and an argument-based approach--as well as empirical studies using an argument-based approach to…

In this "FastFacts," a state asks the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) to recommend experts in the field of assessing young children who are English Language Learners (ELL) to train administrators and psychologists working in district preschool programs for young children with special needs? This is particularly…

The quality of classrooms serving students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) is a continuing concern because of its influence on students' educational outcomes. Program evaluation of classrooms for students with EBD has been a recommended practice for many years since Grosenick, George, and George (1987) conducted their…

This paper details a systematic literature review identifying problems in extant research relating to teachers' attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse and offers a model for new attitude scale development and testing. Scale development comprised a five-phase process grounded in contemporary attitude theories, including (a) developing the…

Reviews recently published methods of assessment of dynamic formulations derived from psychodynamic case material, particularly those that emphasize central maladaptive interpersonal patterns. The methods are divided into those based on case studies and those with a moderate sample size. Psychometric properties are reviewed. The question of how…

The issues of construct validity, predictive validity, and item content bias on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) are examined. The review concludes that most objective data have not supported the issue of bias of the WISC-R when used with children of different ethnic backgrounds. (JDD)

This review of methods for validating writing assessments was conceptualized within a framework suggested by S. Messick (1989) that included five operational components of construct validation: (1) content representativeness; (2) structural fidelity; (3) nomological validity; (4) criterion-related validity; and (5) nomothetic span. (SLD)

The validity of the Southam News 1987 survey of literacy in Canada was questioned relative to its content and structure. The survey viewed literacy as a set of complex information processing skills and adopted a hierarchical view of these skills. This hierarchy model set up illiteracy as a deficiency. The Southam study's underlying assumption was…

Examines the principal assessment process in measuring accountability for facilitating academic improvement. The article raises several conceptual and methodological issues on developing principal assessment models, provides data on issues in the development of evaluation models for principal assessment, and presents a basic model for principal…

In an address to the National Council on Measurement in Education, R. M. Jaeger (1987) commented that there appears to be a fundamental difference in measurement philosophy between those on the two sides of the debate over the Rasch model. Jaeger's observations are explicated by contrasting the views on measurement of B. D. Wright and E. F.…

A discussion of language testing in the context of a program in English for Special Purposes (ESP) focuses on the lack of "fit" between the two areas and makes some recommendations for improvement. It begins with overviews of recent trends in testing and recent issues in ESP. Overlap is seen in two areas: construct and content validity. It is…

During a period when the reform-minded are very critical of the degree to which testing is actually related to the conditions for which data are employed, authentic assessment offers the opportunity to evaluate learning in settings closely related to the real world. It also allows the evaluator to tailor assessment conditions for individual…

This paper investigates the psychometric properties of the African Self-Consciousness (ASC) Scale in a noncollege heterogeneous population of 147 African Americans to determine the reliability and validity of the ASC Scale. Based on analysis of the scale's reliability, factor structure, and construct validity, the study shows the ASC Scale to be a…