This paper discusses the use of assessment instruments at the preschool level and systematically reviews several measurement instruments used with young children. The first section briefly discusses the selection of educational objectives, consideration of alternative methods of collecting information about children, the selection of a specific…

Perspectives on testing and affirmative action are considered. The following issue areas are addressed: the validity and fairness of admission tests; information relevant to the admission of students that is not readily scored or quantified and that may be obtained through interviews, recommendations, accomplishments, and other information…

This manual contains statistical information on the examinations administered by the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) to measure occupational competencies of experienced craftsmen in twenty-six trade specialties. (More detailed information on the program and on the scope of the examinations is provided in a separate…

An information processing approach was applied to the development and validation of a test battery intended for personnel selection, classification, and guidance; and design of training programs. The approach specifies that tests should measure specific cognitive processes and basic abilities, rather than prior experience. Tests should be short,…

The Community College Motivation Inventory (CCMI), devised to have special relevance to college educational and counseling objectives, is based on the interaction of three areas of motivation: intrinsic versus practical, action-oriented needs; status-seeking motives; and group versus one-to-one interpersonal relations. The three factors--Intrinsic…

A 21-item group-administered rating scale was designed to measure elementary school students' sex-stereotyped attitudes about adult occupations. The students responded to items by designating who could, as well as who should fill certain occupations. By choosing from five responses (only women, more women than men, about the same number of women…

The validity of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) and problems associated with inappropriate norms were investigated in eleven senior high schools in Phoenix, Arizona. CTBS validity was assessed in three ways: (1) correlation between test scores and number of courses taken in that subject; (2) correlation between CTBS scores and…

THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA) FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TESTS FOR TEACHERS AND ADVANCED STUDENTS ARE THE SUBJECTS OF THIS FINAL PROJECT REPORT. FOLLOWING AN ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE AWARDING OF A GOVERNMENT CONTRACT TO MLA TO DEVELOP NATIONALLY STANDARDIZED QUALIFICATION TESTS AND A…

The hypothesis that role-playing scenarios specifying full rhetorical contexts were a superior means of eliciting valid writing samples for the purpose of assessing compositional skills of prospective Florida teachers was tested. In addition, topics for use on the initial administrations of the Florida Teacher Competency Examination's writing…

A live tailored achievement testing study was conducted to compare procedures based on the one- and three-parameter logistic models. Previous studies yielded inconclusive results because of the procedures by which item calibrations were linked and because of the item selection procedures. Using improved procedures, 83 college students were tested…

Threats to the validity of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System are covered in two parts: an annotated bibliography of reports concerned with technical issues, and a discussion of threats to validity--from the reporting system in general and from each model in particular. Threats common to all three evaluation models are reported:…

Two tests, one with six cursive shapes and the other with six colored angular shapes to be arranged artistically, were examined to determine whether the degree of non-verbal artistic aspects of creativity is greater in products of individuals or in products of groups. Each test was give both individually and in small groups to 499 students (grades…

The AAMD-Becker Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory is a non-reading vocational preference test for use with mentally retarded persons, particularly the educable mentally retarded at the high school level. Illustrations having occupational significance are presented in forced-choice format for selections. The instrument helps to identify…

This paper deals with measurement of language dominance at the early-childhood level using a rating scale to help bilingual programs with student classification and placement. Some of the assumptions unique in the measurement of language dominance are discussed and applied to the validation procedure on a Spanish/English language dominance scale…

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measure of teacher value systems. Three value systems were defined as values associated with (1) the pursuit of truth, (2) social and interpersonal relations, and (3) authority and its exercise. The scale was taken through three stages of development and field…