Results of a study involving pathology students suggest that there is significant cluing in multiple-true-false test questions that use secondary responses to represent combinations of the primary response (e.g., "Mark B if only 1 and 3 are correct"). Thus test scores are artificially inflated and test reliability is lowered. (JMD)

The reliability of Nigeria's entry qualification examinations as a predictor of success at the university level is examined. Results indicate a positive correlation in the science-based fields and very low predictability in the social sciences. (JMF)

Computerized analysis of multiple choice test items is explained. Examples of item analysis applications in the introductory economics course are discussed with respect to three objectives: to evaluate learning; to improve test items; and to help improve classroom instruction. Problems, costs and benefits of the procedures are identified. (JMD)

Students' ability to validate results of their psychological tests was examined. Seniors and graduate students could reliably select their profiles from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), while college sophomores could not. College sophomores could select their Differential Aptitudes Test (DAT) profiles more confidently than their CPI…

The Springs task, an individually administered measure of ability to criticize and control experiments, is described. The task has characteristics similar to Inhelder and Piaget's Bending Rods task; it yields scores on naming variables, controlling variables, and analyzing experiments. (See also RIE: ED 163 092.) (JKS)

The development and validation of three instruments for the multidimensional assessment of a child's classroom behavior are described. The multidimensional nature, internal consistency, and test-retest properties of scales depicting teacher-, peer-, and self-rated behavior are explicated. Principal-components analyses demonstrate the convergent…

This study provides validity information for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) by examining some of its inter- and intra-test correlates. (CFM)

Addresses the question of whether any test can be defended as ethical or moral. Defines ethicality in terms of issues such as harm, consent, confidentiality of data, and fairness and presents frameworks for determining equity of educational opportunity. An assessment project in Australia is examined in relation to these concerns. (24 references)…

Describes the comparative approach to system evaluation used in a project which administered an online retrieval test to an experimental online catalog to produce data for evaluating effectiveness of a new subject access design. Discusses efforts used to ensure data reliability, and strategies the researchers can use to improve on the data…

Describes the Scale of Service Learning Involvement, developed to validate a service-learning model of developmental processes experienced by students engaged in community volunteer work, from sporadic involvement to internalization of social responsibility, and to assess student outcomes. Reliability, concurrent validity, and contrasting group…

Four threats to validity of an alternative objective test item format, the multiple-mark format, were studied with data from a state-mandated assessment with about 30,000 students at each of three grade levels. Reliability and validity coefficients show that the format has promise as an objective format that can be aligned with new curriculum…

Fifty-five mothers of young children with Down syndrome completed the Parenting Stress Index. Low internal reliability coefficient for the Adaptability/Plasticity Child Domain subscale was found. Factor analysis of the scale found that the Adaptability/Plasticity factor did not perform as a unidimensional structure, but provided information on…

Evaluation of the factor validity and reliability of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (Japanese version) with 322 subjects (mean age 30) with moderate to profound mental retardation found most items loading on the same factors as in the original factor solution, high coefficient alphas across 5 subscales, high test-retest reliability, and…

Examined psychometric properties of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, Preschool Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ) (Parent and Teacher versions), and Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory (SESBI) with a sample of 2- to 6-year-olds. Established internal consistency for SESBI and the PBQ-Teacher. Obtained evidence for long-term stability on the…

This study evaluated the validity and reliability of performance portfolios in a preservice elementary mathematics/science methods class, assessing students' domain-strategic and general-learning strategic knowledge. Results supported performance portfolios as a valid method of assessing desired abilities of preservice teachers that can be…