The main goal of this paper is to investigate cross-cultural factors that predict academic ability among mathematically gifted Olympians in Finland and the United States. The following two research problems are formulated: (1) What factors contribute to or impede the development of the Olympians' mathematic talent? and (2) Do the Olympians fulfill…

Psychometric theory has been one of psychology's stronger foundations and a major contributor to the recognition of psychology as a scientific discipline. Basic principles of psychometric theory led to the development of respected intelligence tests and large and comprehensive testing and assessment programs. This paper synthesizes major…

This paper examines possible explanations for the fact that evaluation results are rarely used. Most explanatory factors for use of results in decision making mentioned in the literature have been clustered in three categories of variables. They concern: (1) the making of decisions about the practical problem; (2) the way in which evaluation is…

Describes a survey of 356 adult students enrolled in university-level courses at the Open Learning Institute which was conducted to assess the predictive validity of Tinto's theoretical model of student dropout. It was found that, overall, the Tinto model appears to be a useful framework for such investigations. (Author/LRW)

The York Region Board of Education in Ontario, Canada, screens students for giftedness in grade 3. This report analyzes data produced in the 1986-87 screening procedure, involving approximately 3,400 students. The report begins with a review of procedural changes that were designed to make the screening more effective and efficient than earlier…

The assessment framework underlying a science performance monitoring program is process-oriented and intended to appeal to generalizability theory for a suitable estimation paradigm. Preliminary applications are described. Results suggest that computerized question-banking, domain-sampling of questions, and generalizablity theory together provide…

The concurrent validity of three types of reading ability assessments was evaluated with 312 Australian primary-level children. Results suggest that the nature of the skills required for success in reading changes in the primary years, and that both teacher-based and test-based assessments concur more closely as children progress through the…

The Turkish edition of the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-T) was accomplished in three stages, each stage constituting an independent study with new samples. In the first study, using bilingual Turkish high school and college students, the transliteral equivalence between the Turkish and English TAI items were achieved. The second study, using a…