Context: Validity arguments can be used to provide evidence that instructors are drawing accurate conclusions from the results of students' clinical performance assessments (PAs). Little research has been conducted in athletic training education to determine if the evidence supports the use of current PAs. Measurement theories designed to…

Background: Coaches and physical educators must obtain valid data relating to the contribution of each of their players in order to assess their level of performance in team sport competition. This information must also be collected and used in real game situations to be more valid. Developed initially for a physical education class context, the…

In this article we examine empirical evidence on the criterion, predictive, transfer, and fairness aspects of validity of a large-scale language arts performance assessment, referred to as the Performance Assignment (PA). We use multilevel models to avoid biased inferences that might result from the naturally nested data. Specifically, we examine…

Some theoretical concerns for competency-based evaluation instruments are discussed, and means of examining these instruments for validity and reliability are presented. The areas of concern include descriptions of the behavior, the level of response, and the nature of the evaluation. Two different types of instruments are examined to determine…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the seventh in the kit, provides an overview of a variety of approaches to measuring performance outcomes. It presents considerations in deciding what to measure and in selecting or developing instruments best suited to…

Fundamental problems in the collection and use of data, in particular the need to develop and use criteria for data, are discussed. Specific examples of the use and misuse of data related to teachers and children in the public schools are presented. Two methods of data collection--manifest techniques and formal response instruments--are evaluated…

To improve the testing of students' skills in performing laboratory experiments, 92 Israeli high school physics teachers participated in the development of a list of weighted laboratory skills. Sensory-motor coordination was found to be a significant measured factor. Factors affecting reliability were also noted. (GDC)

Discussed in relation to career education for handicapped students are advantages and disadvantages of four types of measurement: applied performance testing, criterion validity studies, product vs. process measurement, and criterion vs. norm-referenced measurement. Available from: Division on Career Development, The Council for Exceptional…

A set of procedures for validating the Army's Skill Qualification Tests (SQT) are described. Three phases are discussed: (1) the selection of tasks, (2) the selection of specific content for hands-on performance test items, and of written self-evaluation components, and (3) the establishment of content validity of the hands-on component. The task…

A proposed model for the validity of measures of professional competence treats validation as the evaluation of inferences drawn from test scores, focusing on evaluation, generalization, and extrapolation. The model is used to indicate strengths and weaknesses of assessments of professional competence: observations of performance, simulations, and…

Assessment of the overarching self-regulatory mechanisms, or executive functions, in any age group is challenging, in part due to the complexity of this domain, in part due to their dynamic essence, and in part due to the inextricable links between these central processes and the associated domain-specific processes, such as language, motor…

The rationale underlying tests of social intelligence and some of the problems inherent in those tests are discussed. To measure social intelligence, paper and pencil tests were developed which were "situation free." These tests employed "stereotypic behavior of individual others." The stimuli used in the behavioral tests were…

This report is part of South Carolina's effort to move toward "100 percent performance funding" for the state's public colleges and universities and results from a task force's investigation of ways to assess critical thinking. The following eight major findings are reported: (1) policy makers must determine priorities; (2) critical…

This study compared 4 methods (2 case history and 2 performance-based) used to classify the status of adult subjects in familial studies of developmental language disorders, involving 24 parents of children with developmental language disorders and 24 unrelated adult controls. Classification by case history found fewer affected adults than…

The College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) was established to develop, validate, and implement measures of the knowledge and skills that undergraduate students are expected to acquire and that are important to effective adult functioning. The COMP Measurement Battery yields a "communicating" score based in part on a speaking assessment…