Preliminary findings indicate that positive relations between parents and teachers are associated with successful school outcomes for children. However, measures available to assess parent-teacher relations are scant. The current study examined validity evidence for the Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale-I (PTRS). Specifically, the internal…

Whenever a major intelligence or achievement test is revised, there is always renewed interest in the underlying structure of the test as well as a renewed interest in the scoring, administration, and interpretation changes. In this interview, Amy Gabel discusses the most recent revision of the "Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth…

Developments in the measurement and theory of creativity are reviewed, and the present status of creativity vis-a-vis psychometrics and theory is explored. The realm of creativity has been a quagmire of definition problems, with creativity variously defined in terms of process or stages. In past eras, creativity was essentially measured by output…

Distinguishes between school and class environment, examining research on teachers' perception of school environment and students' perception of classroom environment. Describes the Work Environment Scale and the School-Level Environment Questionnaire, and reports on the use of these instruments in investigating differences between high school and…

Use of the School Climate and Context Inventory (SCCI) as a measure of school climate was investigated. The SCCI had previously been used as a measure of climate in a study of six rural high schools in Kentucky and Tennessee; in the current study, the SCCI was administered to 20 faculty members from each school. Split-half correlation and…

Presents three studies examining the psychometric properties of the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale developed for program evaluation of service learning in college. The scale was constructed to assess an individual's confidence in his or her ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service. Reliability,…

Research on the standardization, reliability, validity, factor structure, and subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) (1945) and its revised version (1987) is reviewed. Much research relating to the WMS appears to be relevant to the revised version. Use of the instrument in Australia is discussed. (SLD)

There are four reasons why comparative data is needed for student ratings of faculty performance: (1) the considerable inflation of student ratings; (2) the great variability in the way students rate different items; (3) because student rating systems must be flexible and comparable; and (4) because of factors (such as student motivation, class…

Two newly developed instruments being used in a number of studies examining the influences of intrafamily and extrafamily resources and supports on parent, family, and child functioning are described. The instruments are the Personal Assessment of Life Events (PALE) Scale, developed by C. M. Trivette and others (1988), and the Personal Assessment…

The Values Scale (VS) is a self-report inventory of 106 scored items yielding 21 separate scales for the individual assessment of upper elementary school and middle school students as well as adult members of semi-skilled, skilled, clerical, managerial, and professional occupations. The VS, available in seven languages, measures several intrinsic…

Work on the development of history performance assessments is described. So far, six complete sets of assessments in United States history have been developed as part of this project. Students are first assessed on their historical knowledge of the period through a short-answer test. They are then asked to write an essay explaining the positions…

Three measures of self-concept or self-esteem and one measure of social competency development, designed for young children, are assessed. The instruments assessed include: (1) the Martinek-Zaichkowski Self-Control Scale for Children (MZSCSC); (2) the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem Scale (BASE); (3) the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale…

This study compares a self-assessment instrument and achievement test containing the same questions and administered at different levels of proficiency in order to investigate the reliability of second language self-assessment for student placement, diagnostic purposes, and achievement testing. Subjects were English as a Foreign Language students…