Mental health clinical services research has emphasized the urgency of developing new psychometric instruments for non-biased psychological assessment of minority and non-minority children of diverse cultural groups in the United States. Background multicultural standardization and validation information is presented for Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS)--a…

This report contains the Proceedings of the 1982 Item Response Theory and Computerized Adaptive Testing Conference. The papers and their discussions are organized into eight sessions: (1) "Developments in Latent Trait Theory," with papers by Fumiko Samejima and Michael V. Levine; (2) "Parameter Estimation," with papers by…

In order to take advantage of advances in the field of mental measurement, the Armed Forces and the Department of Defense have supported the development of a computerized adaptive version of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for use in military personnel selection and classification. This report describes the development and…

A pilot study on the development and administration of a test using a spatial reasoning problem, the 15-puzzle, is described. The test utilizes on-line capabilities of a real-time computer to record an examinee's progress on each problem through a sequence of problem-solving "moves", and to collect additional on-line data that might be…

Describes the development of a research tool, the Occupational Identity Scale, to study one dimension of ego-identity development (occupational dimension), with 417 college and high school students validating items. Identified four factors which accounted for 49 percent of the total variance. Reliability coefficients ranged between 0.70 and 0.87,…

The present study was initiated to gather information about states' out-of-level testing practices. Specifically, we wanted to see whether states attempted to align out-of-level tests with grade of enrollment content standards, what processes are used to complete this task, and what psychometric information states offer as evidence of that…

Noting that the last 40 years have witnessed an enormous increase in the number of psychological tests designed for the assessment of competencies in very young children, this review summarizes the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of psychological tests and other assessment instruments used to evaluate the cognitive functioning of…

Planning is essential to creating safe schools and it is required by the Federal No Child Left Behind legislation (U.S. Department of Education, 2004) and implemented via district local education action plans. The implementation of these plans involves continuous monitoring and reevaluation of information pertinent to each campus. As such, this…

Background: The behaviour of children raised in institutional care in their early years is typified by heightened levels of inattention and overactivity irrespective of the quality of the care. There is some evidence that this behaviour may be specifically associated with forms of attachment disorder behaviours, but to date studies have been…

The goals of the present research were to develop a modified version of an existing self-assessment questionnaire designed to measure parents' emotional style and to examine how the aspects of child regulation may moderate the relation between the emotional styles and social outcomes in childhood. Participants in Study 1 were 140 mothers and…

According to the literature, affective work competencies and personal-social competencies are but two of the terminologies among the plethora of captions employed to describe the set of behaviors commonly referred to as work ethics. The commonality linking these various captions is that all terminologies relate to the concepts of individual…

Lessons from the 18-year institutional experience of Alverno College in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) with assessment for the improvement and verification of student learning are summarized. Principles are described that should inform a national assessment system with the dual purposes of improvement and accountability by incorporating the following key…

Six cases are studied to give some idea of the range of performance assessments in use in the United States. Contrast and comparison are made possible through the study of the following: (1) the South Brunswick (New Jersey) Public Schools Observational Portfolio for kindergarten through grade 12; (2) the Arizona Student Assessment Program (not yet…

Traditional standardized tests of basic skills are no longer considered meaningful by many leading authorities in educational measurement. Alternative approaches are not yet fully developed, although many efforts are being made. This paper explores the issues surrounding student assessment in the context of existing and evolving state practices,…

Using tests to reform education is not a new concept. National and state education policies reflect confidence in the power of assessment to encourage school improvement. New understandings of the nature and context of student learning are shifting the movement away from traditional multiple-choice tests to alternative assessments. The emphasis is…