Teachers' competence to estimate the effectiveness of learning materials is important and often neglected in programmes for teacher education. In this lecture I will try to explore the possibilities of designing scaffolding instruments for a "priori" assessment of language learning tasks, based on insights from SLA and cognitive psychology, more…

Objective: This study describes the development of an engagement scale for use with youth in residential treatment centers. Engagement includes attitude about treatment, bond with providers, and participation in treatment activities. Method: Interview data were collected at the midpoint in residence of 130 youth in two centers. Items were selected…

The guide is intended for teachers who must construct language tests and for other professionals who may need to construct, evaluate, or use the results of language tests. Most examples are drawn from the field of English-as-a-Second-Language instruction in the United Kingdom, but the principles and practices described may be applied to the…

This study examined the reliability and construct validity of two types of measures of mastery motivation for elementary school children: a new version of the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaires (DMQ) and behavioral mastery tasks. Participating were 64 mostly middle class and Caucasian 7- and 10-year-olds living in a middle-sized western city.…

An instrument was developed to assess principal leadership. Two studies were then conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and utility of the instrument. Leadership style is the relative intensity of the presence of four modes of authority (traditional, charismatic, legal, and expert authority) and four modes of power (moral, psychological,…

The purpose of this study was to compare the scoring of Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI) indicators using discrete descriptors when some are considered "essential" with the scoring of these same indicators, and when no descriptors are considered essential. The two questions addressed in this study were: (1) To what…

The present investigation represents a systematic effort to determine whether handicapped children have been included in the development of test norms, items, and indices of reliability and validity. It analysed up-to-date user manuals and technical supplements of 27 well known and widely used aptitude and achievement tests. Study procedure…

Examined the reliability and validity of the Work Sampling System (WSS) for evaluating the schoolwork of 100 kindergarten children. Results indicated that the WSS checklist and summary report had very high internal and moderately high interrater reliability. The WSS accurately predicted the performance of the children on a norm-referenced…

Issues pertaining to the quality of performance assessments, including reliability and validity, are discussed. The relatively limited generalizability of performance across tasks is indicative of the care needed to evaluate performance assessments. Quality control is an empirical matter when measurement is intended to inform public policy. (SLD)

This paper presents three different ways of computing the internal consistency coefficient alpha for a same set of data. The main objective of the paper is the illustration of a method for maximizing coefficient alpha. The maximization of alpha can be achieved with the aid of a principal component analysis. The relation between alpha max. and the…

A model is proposed for the description of ordinal test scores based on the definition of true score as expected rank; its deviations are compared with results from classical test theory. An unbiased estimator of population true score from sample data is calculated. Score variance and population reliability are examined. (Author/BJG)

Responses of male prisoners to the Personal Orientation Inventory were clustered, using hierarchical linkage analysis. Six second-order clusters accounted for all the items. Reliabilities of these clusters were comparable to those of the first-order clusters. Relative validity of cluster scores and scale scores remains to be determined. (RC)

This study investigated (a) interscorer reliability of the Bender-Gestalt Test by using more than one person to score the same test protocols; and (b) rate-rerate reliability of the Bender-Gestalt Test after a half-year interval. (Author)

This paper is aimed at demonstrating that Charles Spearman postulated neither a platonic true-error distinction nor a requirement for constant true scores under repeated measurement. (Author/RC)