This paper presents a framework that institutions of higher education can use to improve, revise and introduce comprehensive systems for the collection and dissemination of information on student learning outcomes. For faculty and institutional leaders grappling with the many issues and nuances inherent in assessing student learning, the framework…

The purpose of this study was to present an empirical correction of the KR21 (Kuder Richardson test reliability) formula that not only yields a closer approximation to the numerical value of the KR20 without overestimation, but also simplifies computation. This correction was accomplished by introducing several correction factors to the numerator…

The Alpha Omega Completed Sentence Form (AOCSF) was developed to identify and measure a person's adaptational approaches to information concerning their own death or the possible death of a significant other. In contrast to the Kubler-Ross stage theory, the adaptational approach recognizes a person's capacity to assimilate new information which…

Four papers presented at the National Council on Measurement in Education meeting are critiqued. G. R. Mandeville and H. Heidari (1988), in a study of unusually effective schools, asked if correlations among cohorts of schools differ depending on the method of analysis used. It is suggested that it would be better to ask whether schools identified…

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was developed to measure pervasive negative attitudes of a depressed person towards self, outside world, and future. The DAS follows Beck's construct of cognitive dysfunction. Two studies investigated the psychometric properties of the DAS and the relationship between cognition and affect in 300 normal…

The development of the Evaluation Instrument for Experimental Research (EIFER), an inventory for appraising research quality, is described. The EIFER was specifically designed to aid students in introductory courses in educational and psychological research methods to evaluate published research reports. A survey conducted among specialists in…

The reliability of multiple choice tests--containing different numbers of response options--was investigated for 260 students enrolled in technical college economics courses. Four test forms, constructed from previously used four-option items, were administered, consisting of (1) 60 two-option items--two distractors randomly discarded; (2) 40…

The Arizona Course Instructor Evaluation Questionnaire (CIEQ) was designed to assist individual instructors in improving teaching methods and courses. Secondary uses include faculty evaluation, research, and course and instructor selection by students. Successive refinements of the original pool of 1,000 items by factor analysis and subjective…

Prior research has indicated that items administered to college students for rating their instructors, can be empirically as well as logically classified on a continuum from very general to specific. Three of these hypothesized classifications of item specificity--global, general concept, and specific--were chosen to represent this continuum.…

An information processing approach was applied to the development and validation of a test battery intended for personnel selection, classification, and guidance; and design of training programs. The approach specifies that test should measure specific cognitive processes and basic abilities, rather than prior experience. Tests should be short,…

The College Outcome Measures Project/American College Testing Program (COMP/ACT) Writing Assessment is described, and issues of validity and reliability in the assessment of writing samples using qualitative rating scales are explored. COMP/ACT is composed of three role-playing tasks in the social sciences, natural sciences, and arts, which are…

The Discovery-Expository Instrument is a classroom observation scale which measures the position of a teacher's presentation on a continuum of discovery presentation (in which the student is encouraged to solve problems with minimal help from the teacher), to expository presentation (in which the teacher provides a complete description and…

The internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity of the adult version of the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) were determined for a sample spanning adulthood; age and sex differences were also investigated. Sixty-three men and 63 women ranging from 18 to 78 years of age, with at least 12 years of schooling, were administered…

An instrument was developed for observing teaching behaviors related to some of the theoretical components of inquiry teaching. Four scales were designed to measure personalized planning, confrontational emphasis, transitional querying, and manipulative opportunities. Inter-rater reliability was obtained for ten taped samples of secondary social…

Five papers on the assessment of writing ability presented at the Division D meeting are critiqued. It is suggested that it is not possible to conclude--as has Larson in his study of grades 4, 6, and 8--that National Assessment of Educational Progress results do not give evidence of growth in writing ability. Dovell and Buhr, examining approaches…