Talented students (n=520) in grades three through five were given the Quantitative, Reading Comprehension, and Verbal sections of the Lower Level of the Secondary School Admission Test (developed for fifth through seventh graders). Students' scores covered nearly the entire possible range indicating that the SSAT-L effectively differentiated among…

This article describes the Scale for the Evaluation of Gifted Identification Instruments, developed for use by school decision makers. Development of the scale is reviewed in terms of five areas of assessment: validity, reliability, propriety, respondent appropriateness, and utility. Specific guidelines and cautions in using the scale are also…

Compared usefulness of Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID)-Mental Scales and Battelle Developmental Inventory (BID) in assessing abilities of infants and toddlers (n=34) from adolescent-parent families. Found that these two instruments cannot be used interchangeably and that one needs to look beyond psychometric data to understand results…

Issues related to use of "normal" personality inventories in clinical assessment are discussed, including use of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) in clinical assessment. It is concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of the NEO-PI for differential diagnoses of psychopathology. (SLD)

A three-phase study was conducted to develop and validate the Penn Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a 26-item self-report measure. Results with 83 and 98 combat veterans and with 76 general population patients and disaster survivors support usefulness of the measure. (SLD)

A FORTRAN-77 subroutine is presented to calculate two test statistics for assessing goodness-of-fit in categorical data. The test statistic inferences are based on the exact first three cumulants of the Pearson chi-square statistic and a recently published modification of the Pearson chi-square statistic. (Author)

This article presents arguments that the correlation measure "r" of halo is not conceptually more appropriate than the standard deviation (SD) measure. It also describes conditions under which halo effects occur and when the SD and r measures can be used. Neither measure is uniformly superior to the other. (SLD)

A study investigated optimal length of screening tests used to sort out medical students needing to take a full-length performance-based standardized-patient test from those not needing it. Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined a good length is one-third the full test, with cutoff just above the mean case pass level. (Author/MSE)

Muses on the Report of the National Commission on Testing and Public Policy, "From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Transforming Testing in America." (SR)

Nine teachers from two schools rated third- through sixth-grade regular education students (n=97) using Teacher Rating of Academic Achievement Motivation (TRAAM) and Teacher Rating of Academic Performance. Initial analyses of TRAAM indicated the instrument has potential to become sound psychometric alternative assessment device for investigating…

Examined usefulness of CAGE in screening for alcohol use disorders in university students (n=110) attending campus psychiatric health service. Fourteen students were identified as having current alcohol use disorder by means of Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Results suggest that CAGE is able in this population to detect usually mild…

Reviews six instruments developed to assess the psychological processes associated with experiences of racism among African Americans. Recommendations for modifications, revisions, and additional reliability and validity evidence are presented for each of these relatively new measures. (SLD)

Language tests reflect the complexities and power struggles of society. Critical language testing recognizes this aspect of language testing and broadens the field by engaging it in the sphere of social dialog. Studying, protecting, and guarding language tests is part of the process of providing quality learning and preserving democratic cultures,…

The construct validity of neuropsychological tests in patients with schizophrenia was studied with 39 patients who were evaluated with a battery of six tests assessing attention, memory, and abstract reasoning abilities. Results support the construct validity of the neuropsychological tests in patients with schizophrenia. (SLD)

Two articles consider areas of rehabilitation measurement. The first, "Health Care Outcome Measurement," by William P. Fisher, explores the usefulness of the Rasch model in measuring results of health care programs. The second, "Instantaneous Measurement and Diagnosis," by John M. Linacre, discusses use of the Functional…