Argues that the Degrees of Reading Power test is not a valid tool for its main purpose, matching students to appropriate texts, because the test's units of text difficulty are not uniformly comparable to the test's units used to reflect a reader's ability. (HOD)

Explains significant but accounted for factors that affected the validity of the Degrees of Reading Power Test. (HOD)

The 15 components used for assessment in an introductory psychology course were examined to determine their relative value as predictors of overall performance. Multiple-choice tests were consistently found to be more effective than essay examinations, but arguments are presented for the retention of essays, with suggestions for their improvement.…

Discusses the characteristics of three popular readability formulas: the Dale-Chall, the Fry Graph, and the Spache. Describes text based and reader/text based alternatives. Offers appropriate applications of each form of assessment. (FL)

The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to 72 upper-level and graduate students. Item-responses were intercorrelated and subjected to factor analyses. Support was obtained for the three hypothesized factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. (Author/GDC)

Provides a system for evaluating both the quality and the appropriateness of the placement and instructional tests that accompany basal reading series. (FL)

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of Reading Yardsticks, a criterion referenced test. Concludes that there are significant problems associated with its effective use. (FL)

The effects of violating four item construction principles were examined to assess the validity of the principles and the importance of students' test wiseness. While flawed items were significantly less difficult than sound items, differences in item discrimination, test reliability, and concurrent validity were not observed. (Author/BW)

The concurrent validity and reliability of Kaufman's short-form version of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were examined for a sample of 342 Mexican-American preschool and kindergarten age children. The results showed that generally the positive psychometric properties of the Kaufman short form were also noted for the children in this…

Administered two measures of general self-concept and two measures of academic self-concept to 1,018 high school students in October and May of the same school year to determine reliability and validity. Results indicated the need for more research investigating the psychometric properties of measures of academic self-concept. (JAC)

The review examines five measures designed to assess autistic symptomatology: Rimland's Diagnostic Checklist for Behavior-Disturbed Children, the Behavior Rating Instrument for Autistic and Atypical Children, the Behavior Observation Scale for Autism, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, and the Autism Behavior Checklist. Available studies of…

Questions the credibility of the Diagnostic Spelling Potential Test. (FL)

Illustrates ways to link the motivating power and efficiency of the computer to the effectiveness and necessity of traditional teaching practice and criterion referenced testing in order to assess and teach spelling. (FL)

Article presented a true story of how two cities ran testing programs and the lessons that can be learned from their failures. (Editor/RK)

In England and Wales, a National Curriculum initiated in 1988 was designed to ensure that all schools provided a curriculum which represented different areas of knowledge. The past 20 years has increasingly seen more emphasis on the link between the financial amounts spent on education and subsequent return on this money. The impact of the…