Reported a self-report measure of adolescents' assertiveness. Items for the scale were presented to sixth-grade students. Factor analysis revealed factors of submissiveness, aggressiveness, and assertiveness. After the validational study, a small assertiveness training program indicated that training effects were obtained and could be generalized…

Responding to doubts about the validity of test results that showed the Pittsburgh School District's school improvement project to be highly successful, the district validated its results by administering a different test to a representative sample of students in secure conditions. (MCG)

Explores need for development of validation and certification procedures. Performance measures used for these procedures must come from on-job experiences. Validity of measures depends on similarity of participant's performance to job exercises. Outlines how to develop reliable job performance measures necessary for job certification and…

P. A. Arbisi and Y. S. Ben-Porath (1995) originally proposed that the Infrequency Psychopathology scale, F(p), be used as the final step in an algorithm to determine the validity of a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) protocol. The current study used taxometric procedures to determine the latent structure of F(p) among…

In tertiary institutions in Australia, and no doubt elsewhere, there is increasing pressure for accountability. No longer are academics assumed "a priori" to be responsible and capable of self management in teaching and assessing the subjects they run. Procedures are being dictated more from the "top down". Although academics…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is widely used to screen university applicants for whom English is not their native language. Although the cutoff scores vary, in Ontario those with scores much lower than 550 are rarely admitted to any university. Two exceptions are the University of Western Ontario and its affiliate, Brescia…

Research into the technical adequacy of statewide alternate assessments is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed 2 years of data from one state's alternate assessment in written language in an attempt to validate current test score interpretations. More than 1,000 students were included in each year. Findings support the test's technical…

This study examined the appropriateness of the use of criterion referenced tests as a means of controlling an individual student's advancement to the next level of instruction or retention in the current unit in the PLATO Air Force Base Computer-Based Education project at Chanute. The study was also concerned with program evaluation, which…

The present study utilized both the IRT-LR (item response theory likelihood ratio) and a series of CFA (confirmatory factor analysis) multi-sample analyses to systematically examine the relationships between DIF (differential item functioning) and DTF (differential test functioning) with a random sample of 15 000 Korean examinees. Specifically,…

Across a variety of disciplines and areas of inquiry, reliable and valid measures are a cornerstone of quality research. This is the case because to have confidence in the findings of our studies, we must first have confidence in the quality of our measures. This article briefly reviews the literature on scale development and provides an empirical…

Researchers sometimes need a statistical test of the hypothesis that two values of Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient are equal. The situation may involve scores from two different measures administered to independent random samples or from the same measure administered to random samples from two different populations. Feldt derived a test…

A formative committee conducted a developmental study to produce a program evaluation instrument (PEI) that would be effective in conducting an adult basic education (ABE) program evaluation study at Nicolet Area Technical College (NATC). Five procedures were used to complete this product. First, a literature review was conducted that assisted in…

The computer-supported Project Work classroom learning environment discussed in this paper represents a paradigm shift from teacher-centered to student-centered teaching and learning in Singapore schools. Besides the face-to-face weekly lessons in existing Project Work classrooms, the students engaged in computer-supported online forum…

John J. Cannell's late 1980s "Lake Wobegon" reports suggested widespread deliberate educator manipulation of norm-referenced standardized test (NRT) administrations and results, resulting in artificial test score gains. The Cannell studies have been referenced in education research since, but as evidence that high stakes (and not cheating or lax…

This report is the result of a field test of "Health Service Careers" curriculum materials developed and published by the Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center, Oklahoma State Department of Vocational Technical Education. The results and conclusions reported in the study relate to student achievement and teacher evaluations and…