The utility of general or select response formats for evaluating certain types of clinical competence is studied. Consideration of the suitability of an examination format to fulfill its intended purpose and the appropriateness of the questions included is recommended when designing an examination. (Author/AL)

Mathematical tasks calling for relational thinking were given to 60 children of Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi origin who had spent their school lives in England, 60 who had arrived within the past 3 years, and 60 British children. Differences in the ability to abstract, hypothesize, and generalize were studied. (KC)

In 1979, the state of Massachusetts identified 11 listening and 14 speaking skills as part of a basic skills program in elementary/secondary schools. The authors were asked to recommend methods of assessing these skills. The article summarizes their decision process and includes the recommendations. (PD)

Reports on the development of an assessment instrument to test basic communication skills necessary for students' success in college. Covers the instrument's conceptual foundation, administration procedures, development, and analysis. (PD)

This study investigated the adequacy of the Rasch model in equating existing standardized tests with groups of examinees not widely separated in ability. With the exception of one test pair and one grade level, the Rasch model using the anchor test procedure provided a reasonably satisfactory means of equating. (Author/CTM)

The test battery and the norms groups are briefly described. Questions are raised about the reliability and validity data in the manual. The Test of Learning Ability and the Educational Planning Questionnaire are indicated to be useful additions to the battery. (CTM)

Discusses the need for awareness of real and potential problems in educational evaluation approaches, kinds of problems there are with true experimental designs and with quasi-experimental designs, and the criteria applied by the Joint Dissemination Review Panel to its review of educational programs. (MF)

Cheating by students in academic assignments, especially term papers, cheating on tests, and altering or forging a university document are discussed. Efforts of the University of Maryland to crack down on cheating and to produce a workable code of student conduct are described. (MLW)

Factor analysis is of limited value in investigating the influence of students' implicit theories about teachers' behaviors on student evaluations of teachers. (MH)

Medical and dental students were administered two short confidence-scored tests on cellular and molecular biology. Increases in test reliability and predictive validity were found when test scores were adjusted for realism, but were not statistically significant. (Author/MH)

Changing ideas on intelligence testing and the heritability of intelligence are followed through a fifty-year period. Common criticisms of intelligence tests are examined, but it is concluded that intellectual tests will continue to be of value in diagnosing strengths and weaknesses, particularly of exceptional children. (Editor)

Yarworth and Gauthier (EJ 189 606) examined whether self-concept variables enhanced predictions about students' participation in school activities, using unstructured stepwise regression techniques. A reanalysis of their data using hierarchial regression models tested their hypothesis more appropriately, and uncovered multicollinearity and…

Effects of language of administration on IQ and predictions of letter learning and achievement were investigated for Anglo and bilingual Mexican American preschool children. Significant IQ differences were associated with language of test administration. No significant differences among predictions of letter task performance were obtained for…

A survey to obtain a sample of representative opinions on tests and testing in the public schools is reported. Three categories of respondents (teacher union representatives, teacher trainers, legislators) indicate that teachers' attitudes toward standardized tests should be changed. (MLW)

Investigates (1) the impact on business and education of demographic, economic, political, and technical developments; (2) strengths and weaknesses of competency based education; and (3) future implications for business education in terms of job prospects and educational preparation. (SK)