Physics educators around the world often need reliable diagnostic materials to measure students' understanding of physics concept in high school. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new diagnostic tool on High School Optics concept. Test of Conceptual Understanding on High School Optics (TOCUSO) consists of 25 conceptual items that measures…

Nine preschool and school-age language assessment tools found to have acceptable levels of identification accuracy were evaluated to determine their overall levels of psychometric validity for use in diagnosing the presence/absence of language impairment. Eleven specific criteria based on those initially devised by McCauley and Swisher (1984) were…

Authentic assessment is a growing alternative to conventional testing. This research-to-practice article describes a framework for implementing authentic assessment. The R-E-A-L framework shows how roles, equipment, assessment tools, and location can be incorporated into early childhood practices.

The inclusion of young children with disabilities has remained a function of the Head Start program since its inception in the 1960s when the United States Congress mandated that children with disabilities comprise 10% of the Head Start enrollment (Zigler & Styfco, 2000). Standardized, norm-referenced tests used to identify children with…

Reliable and valid methods of student assessment in Newcastle University's new undergraduate medical curriculum are examined as indices of competence within the constraints of the educational program objectives. Considerable attention is given to the assessment of sciences basic to medicine through assessment instruments developed from clinical…

The usefulness of the picture story language test (PSLT) as a standardized assessment procedure that would discriminate between 124 nonlearning-disabled and 85 learning-disabled (LD) elementary school students was studied. It was concluded that the PSLT does not allow for an accurate and complete diagnostic appraisal. (Author/PHR)

The study evaluated the utility of Kaufman-Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) subtests in differentiating learning-disabled children from students with other handicapping conditions, and compared K-ABC subtests with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised subtests. Results showed that subtest scores did not enhance differential…

Examined Basic School Skills Inventory-Screen to determine its agreement with teacher judgments of student performance to increase relevance of educational programs for young children. Observed and tested primary grade children (n=64) and validated results with second group of kindergartners (n=208). Results were predictive of subsequent school…

Two studies addressing the clinical validity of discrepancy criteria for identification of children with developmental language disorders (DLD) are reported: one with 256 preschoolers clinically defined as DLD, and one with 363 8-year-old controls. Factors contributing to underidentification in Study 1 and overidentification in Study 2 are…

Responds to article by Bagnato and Neisworth on social and treatment "invalidity" of intelligence testing for early intervention with preschoolers. Agrees with Bagnato and Neisworth that psychologists should employ wide variety of procedures and practices in their assessment of preschool children. Disagrees with conclusion that intelligence…

Responds to article by Bagnato and Neisworth on social and treatment "invalidity" of intelligence testing for early intervention with preschoolers. Contends that "intelligent" testing as part of appropriate assessment practice with young children will avoid many problems with "intelligence" testing as outlined by Bagnato and Neisworth. (NB)

This study examined the criterion validity of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) reading measures in three ways: the relationship between CBM performance and teacher perceptions of student academic functioning; relationship between CBM scores and reading performance on a group achievement test; and the ability of CBM to differentiate between…

Conducted national consumer survey of preschool psychologists (n=185) regarding treatment and social validity of early intelligence tests for preschoolers with developmental deficits (n=7,223). Results demonstrated that early intelligence tests failed to be acceptable tools 43% of time and failed to document eligibility of over 3,000 young…

This study was designed to identify differences in the neurological functioning of three groups of children with developmental dyslexia and to assess whether any of the groups were characterized by a particular pattern of neurological soft signs. Subjects were 88 children, aged 11-14, who were identified as developmentally dyslexic. The children…

To identify classroom behaviors that differentiate primary-level students with learning disabilities (LD) from their nondisabled peers, two scales of 83 items each were devised and piloted. Two subscales and 18 individual items were found to discriminate students later classified as LD and those referred but not subsequently classified as LD.…