Consideration of cultural and linguistic features is mandated by law and one of the most important contributors to the appropriate placement of diverse learners for special education services. This article describes the results of a pilot project designed to assist rural educators to deliver an equitable and unbiased assessment process for English…

Despite questions about validity and reliability, the use of value-added estimation methods has moved beyond academic research into state accountability systems for teachers, schools, and teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Prior studies of value-added measurement for TPPs test the validity of researcher-designed models and find that measuring…

Three studies involving elementary students examined methodological issues in curriculum-based reading assessment. Results indicated that (1) whereas sample duration did not affect concurrent validity, increasing duration reduced performance instability and increased performance slopes and (2) domain size was related inversely to performance slope…

This pragmatic, accessible book presents an empirically supported conceptual framework and hands-on instructions for conducting curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in grades K-8. The authors provide everything needed to evaluate student learning in reading, spelling, writing, and math; graph the resulting data; and use this information to make…

This article describes the findings of studies conducted on a large-scale, classroom-based performance assessment of literacy for the early grades designed to provide information that is useful for reporting, as well as teaching. Technical studies found the assessment to be a promising instrument that is reliable and valid. Follow-up studies of…

Functioning-level testing has been proposed as an alternative to grade-level testing for the evaluation of compensatory educational programs in which students score well below their own grade level. Data from two studies, however, suggest an adverse impact on program evaluation from the adoption of functioning-level testing. Two compensatory…

The Coping Inventory, an observation instrument designed to assess the behavior and skills of handicapped children, is described. The 48-item inventory is divided into two categories--self and environment; each category is subdivided into three dimensions--productive, active, and flexible. (PHR)

Accurate personality assessment of youngsters is complex because thorough assessment involves much more than direct assessment of the child. To better understand this challenge, two omnibus instruments for child-personality assessment--the Tell-Me-A-Story (TEMAS) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children Self-Report of Personality (BASC…

Examined diagnostic validity of Part Two of the American Association on Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scales-School Edition (ABS-SE) for the classification of behavior disorder in elementary school students (N=66). Results indicated overall rate of correct classification was 71.21 percent; using factor scores, the level of correct…

This study assessed the criterion-related validity of the PDD Behavior Inventory, a rating scale to evaluate the adaptive and maladaptive behaviors of children with pervasive developmental disorders. Good correlations with five other scales confirmed the scale's validity and suggest its value in assessing treatment-related changes in maladaptive…

Outlines principles for assessments that are supportive of teaching and learning, and discusses qualities that such assessments must have in order to be useful for reporting information to the public. Introduces a language-arts assessment (the Elementary Literacy Profiles) designed to embody these principles and qualities so that it will be…

A study investigated the reliability and validity of a measure of imagery vividness appropriate for young children. A questionnaire instrument consisting of 21 Likert-type items was developed and administered to 380 third- through sixth-grade children in a lower-middle to upper-middle socioeconomic population in southern California. Items in the…

Reports that the results of a study that used both classical and naturalist experimental approaches yielded quite different linguistic pictures of the same children. (JL)

Reports the clinical validity of the Process for Assessment of Effective Student Functioning. A clinical team studied 300 representative second and fifth graders. Found the Process was valid for predicting independent clinical judgments of the status of these children, and located potentially handicapped children better than teacher referral.…

This study examined effects on 62 elementary students with learning disabilities undergoing triennial reevaluation of the change from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Third Edition. Results indicate changes in the correlation with Woodcock-Johnson--Revised Tests of Achievement…