Discusses the importance of assessing camp staff attitudes, the nature of attitudes, and how attitudes are formed. Recommends Likert scales as effective in measuring the direction and strength of an attitude, identifying the object of an attitude, and detecting how an attitude was formed. Provides guidelines for developing a Likert scale and…

Matching almost 47,000 men and women on type of math course taken and grade received, women scored about 33 points lower on the Scholastic Aptitude Test-Mathematics than men who had taken the same course and received the same grade. Sex differences call into question the validity of the SAT as a predictor of college math performance. (SK)

Reanalyzed test scores of 153 referred students who received inconsistent placements according to California's discrepancy criterion, which does not take regression into account (standard score distribution procedure). Reanalysis used procedure accounting for regression. Findings revealed that regression "accounted" for significant proportion of…

Presents critical analysis of an earlier article, and argues that, although the validity of the High/Low distinction is questionable, it is possible for practical testing purposes to obtain reliable judgments from properly selected and trained judges. (seven references) (GLR)

When item response data do not satisfy the unidimensionality assumption, multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) should be used to model the item-examinee interaction. This article presents and discusses MIRT analyses designed to give better insight into what individual items are measuring. (SLD)

Scores from 324 Louisiana schools on the Louisiana Graduation Exit Examination and a within-school split sample of 255 schools indicate that a single subject or grade provides a less consistent and more narrow perspective on school effectiveness than a subcomposite made up of 2 subject areas. (SLD)

Investigated correlations between two intelligence measures for exceptional children. Corrected correlations between the tests indicated differences with correlations reported in one manual. Relationships were generally higher than those reported elsewhere. Implications are discussed, especially those involving the use of correlations between…

Administration of nonverbal IQ tests to 12 children with normal language and 12 with language impairments (ages 8-10) revealed that the children with language impairments had lower scores than controls, and that nonlinguistic deficits of children with language impairments adversely affected their responses to specific types of items on nonverbal…

Principal components analysis of standardization sample data for the Comprehensive Test of Adaptive Behavior, involving 6,647 persons with mental retardation, found that a single factor accounted for 86 percent of the variance in category scores. Use of the Total Score and idiographic item clusters is psychometrically preferable to use of category…

Difficulties inherent in differentiating practice effects from meaningful change in neuropsychological retest data are illustrated in this case study of a personal injury case. Although the patient demonstrated substantial gains on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised, most of the tests given on successive days did demonstrate acceptable…

Surveyed counselors (n=672) about extent to which they incorporate basic principles of good testing practices in work and whether practices are learned in preservice education, in service training, or from reading ethical standards/guidelines. Found that many counselors engaged in good test use practices, adhering to many important test-use…

When 43 experienced school psychologists were asked to evaluate discrepancy scores, it was found that they made inconsistent choices, failed to use standard statistical procedures for testing differences between scores, and tended to misinterpret percentile ranks as useful for discrepancy analysis. Implications for learning-disabilities…

Investigated a prior classification of Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) subtests into Verbal and Visual categories. Findings from 45 college students found that memory test performance correlated significantly with performance on subtests of Form II of Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery that measures substrates of particular memory…

Science test results are often used to evaluate differences in achievement between males and females. Analyzes data collected in Ohio at the statewide level and suggests that it could be important to consider the rate of item omission before scores are computed. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Addresses educational and policy issues related to use and interpretation of intelligence (IQ) tests in schools. Summarizes research on cognitive abilities and origins of individual differences in IQ. Considers implications of findings for educational and social policy. Discusses important issues related to practical application of IQ tests in…