Many seem to believe that researcher-made tests are unnecessary, if not inappropriate, for evaluating reading comprehension interventions. We suggest that this view reflects a zeitgeist in which researcher-made (proximal) tests that align with the researchers' interventions are closely scrutinized and often devalued, whereas commercially developed…

Task complexity in terms of symbolic mediation (inner thought) as a determinant of differential test performance and the prediction of dissimilar functioning were examined. Preschool children with moderate to profound speech and/or language handicaps were tested using: (1) a sound-in-words subtest of the Test of Articulation (TA); (2) Action…

Test accommodations are changes in standardized test conditions to equalize opportunities between students with or without disabilities by achieving valid scores. The Individuals with Disabilities Act 1997 amendments require states and districts to include disabled students in accountability programs. Assumptions, practical implications,…

Prior research indicates that language-handicapped children obtain higher test scores when tested by personally familiar examiners than when tested by personally unfamiliar examiners. The present investigation inquired whether this finding is due to examinees' actual differential performance across the two examiner conditions, or whether it is the…

This article presents a meta-analysis of the effects of examiner familiarity/unfamiliarity on children's performance during individual testing. Data came from 22 controlled studies involving 1489 subjects. In a typical study, the effect of examiner familiarity raised test performance by .35 standard deviations. Differential performance favoring…

This article presents a quantitative synthesis of examiner familiarity effects on Caucasian and minority students' test performance. Fourteen controlled studies were coded in terms of methodological quality (high vs. low) and race-ethnicity (Caucasian vs. Black and Hispanic). An analogue to analysis of variance conducted on weighted unbiased…

Presented is a quantitative synthesis of examiner familiarity effects on Caucasian and minority students' test performance. Fourteen controlled studies were coded in terms of methodological quality and race-ethnicity. Caucasian students performed similarly in both familiar and unfamiliar examiner conditions, while Black and Hispanic children…

This study analyzed user manuals and technical supplements of 27 aptitude and achievement tests to determine whether disabled children were included in development of the tests' norms, items, reliability indices, and validity indices. Most test developers provided scant evidence that their tests were valid for use with disabled students. (JDD)

This meta-analysis explored how measuring student progress toward long vs. short-term goals affects achievement outcomes. Twenty-one controlled studies were coded in terms of measuring method (toward long- vs. short-term goals) and type of achievement outcome (probe-like vs. global achievement test). Analogues to analysis of variance conducted on…