The use of microworlds (MWs), or complex dynamic systems, in educational testing and personnel selection is hampered by systematic measurement errors because these new and innovative item formats are not adequately controlled for their difficulty. This empirical study introduces a way to operationalize an MW's difficulty and demonstrates the…

The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it…

This study was conducted to determine the usefulness of a general global reading test, a cloze test, and a vocabulary test as predictors of success, as well as the effects of an extended required study skills program on success and achievement, for students in mechanics programs at Keewatin Community College in Manitoba, Canada. The three criteria…

This research report recounts the procedures, results, and recommendations of a research project in which more than 200 tenth-grade students in Florida were tested (1) to determine whether aptitude treatment interaction (ATI) effects on syntactic maturity and on knowledge of structural relationships occur after several months of instruction; (2)…