As test standards and research literature in general indicate, definitions of test bias and item bias vary considerably, as do the results of existing methods of identifying biased items. The situation is further complicated by issues of content, context, construct, and criterion. In achievement tests, for example, content validity may impose…

The validity of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery was examined using test results of 50 learning disabled fourth graders. The appropriateness of the developmental strategy and the evidence for the external validity of the cluster measures contained in the battery were considered. Results indicated that the factor and scholastic…

A measure of the usefulness of a pass/fail testing decision procedure is the ratio of the utility of the given procedure to the utility of a procedure based on knowledge of scores on a criterion measure. It is computed from scores for a representative sample of persons tested. Utility functions may be specified by the test user or set by…

Article discussed the disadvantages of student testing as a means of evaluating student progress in the classroom and suggested the use of a new model of assessment. Three steps intended for classroom diagnosis of students were described. (RK)

The General Education Performance Index (GEPI) is a comparatively short test covering the same content as the General Educational Development Test (GED), which takes ten hours to administer. Correlations of the subtests of the GEPI with the GED ranged from .28 to .57. (JKS)

Test performance and reported anxiety levels of high and low test-anxious subjects taking either a regular exam or an exam containing brief, written relaxation instructions were compared. High test-anxious subjects performed more poorly and reported greater worry and emotionality. Results provide greater external validity for Test Anxiety Scale.…

Results show that the mean number of Occupational Aptitude Patterns (OAP's) generated for a sample of mentally retarded and boarderline intelligence students is significantly greater for the Nonreading Aptitude Test Battery (NATB) than for the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). (DEP)

The partitioned-U procedure is outlined, a fundamental logical flaw in this procedure's avoidance of any direct test of the significance of the first discriminant function or largest coefficient of canonical correlation is pointed out, and two alternatives to the partitioned-U procedure are discussed. (Author/DEP)

Indicates that IQ ranking is the most significnat factor affecting Draw A Person test performance by male subjects. IQ rankings were not found to significantly influence drawings by females. (Author/DEP)

Psychological inventories were administered to incarcerated offenders, either without prior cuing or following exposure to experimental cues that identified psychological health and growth with either positive or negative self-disclosure. Results showed that self-disclosure of deviant and symptomatic responses could be enhanced by associating…

Considered techniques to assess self-reported drug use. Evaluated the effects of different response options on the distribution, reliability, and validity of scores on drug-use items. Suggests that more quantitative measures are not necessarily more reliable or valid than less quantitative measures of drug use. (Author/KS)

Administered Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to clinically depressed and nondepressed inpatients, and compared scores from its Depression scale with scores from the Beck Depression Inventory. Demonstrated a positive linear relationship between the two measures and their ability to discriminate between depressed and nondepressed…

The relationship between the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Classroom Edition and its predecessor, the Vineland Social Maturity Scale was examined with 54 educable and trainable mentally retarded children. The concurrent validity of the two scales was moderate. The mean scores from the newer instrument were significantly lower. (Author/CL)

Compared scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for 40 nonexceptional second graders. Subjects tended to score lower on PPVT-R than on WISC-R; scores from the tests were moderately correlated; and order of administration did not appear to alter scores. (NRB)

Questionnaires returned by 285 graduates were used to survey perceptions of the Florida Teacher Certification Examination in terms of adequacy to measure competence, difficulty level, need for more rigor, and usefulness in upgrading standards. The results suggest that education graduates do not necessarily dismiss the value of a certification…