Response generative modeling (RGM) is an approach to psychological measurement that involves a "grammar" capable of assigning a psychometric description to every item in a universe of items and is capable of generating all the items in that universe. The article discusses the rationale behind RMG and its roots, explores how it relates to…

Prediction of the difficulty (equated delta) of a large sample (n=213) of reading comprehension items from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was studied using main idea, inference, and supporting statement items. A related purpose was to examine whether text and text-related variables play a significant role in predicting item…

The Perception of Parental Reciprocity Scale (POPRS) was originally developed with a late adolescent population to assess the extent of perceived reciprocity in adolescent-parent relations. This study examined the reliability and validity of using POPRS with younger adolescents. Subjects, 655 males and 636 females ranging in age from 13 to 18,…

The Quality Schools Consortium is composed of approximately 140 elementary, middle, and high schools in North America. An action research project was conducted to develop and refine a survey instrument to determine the perceptions of principals in the Quality Schools consortium with regard to the interpretation and implementation of the Quality…

The structure of expertise is investigated along a variety of dimensions. A new and distinct approach is used, which is based on extensive analysis of theories, models, and practice-based strategies found in the literature. This base is used to define a set of dimensions that might be helpful in constructing knowledge profiles. The four dimensions…

In July 1994, College of the Canyons (COC) in California conducted several predictive validity studies of the College Board Assessment and Placement Services (APS) Reading Test. COC began using the 35-question objective format test in spring 1993. Fall 1993 test scores were used in determining the ability of the APS Reading Test to predict student…

A study was undertaken at California's College of the Canyons (CoC) to determine whether evidence existed of disproportionate impact in English course placement based on student ethnicity, gender, or age. Data were compiled for all 4,309 students tested between spring 1993 and fall 1995, while the standard for disproportionate impact was taken…

Unlike many instruments used to measure the attitudes and practices of college composition teachers, the Survey of Attitudes and Practices of Teachers of Freshman Composition (SAPTFC) is based on a generalized theory of teaching at the college level, classifying instruction into three groups: didactic, heuristic, and philetic. In composition…

A series of computer simulations was run to measure the relationship between testlet validity and the factors of item pool size and testlet length for both adaptive and linearly constructed testlets. Results confirmed the generality of earlier empirical findings of H. Wainer and others (1991) that making a testlet adaptive yields only marginal…

Operational procedures for the Graduate Record Examinations Validity Study Service are reviewed, with emphasis on the problem of frequent occurrence of negative coefficients in the fitted within-department regressions obtained by the empirical Bayes method of H. I. Braun and D. Jones (1985). Several alterations of the operational procedures are…

A study reanalyzed the 1977 original form of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) developed by Guglielmino. It questioned whether there is an intracultural and intercultural factorial consistency, whether raters would reconfirm the eight-factor solution, and whether raters would reconfirm the main characteristics of a "highly…

This study involves a correlation between two measures of creativity: the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and the divergent production subtests of the Structure of Intellect Learning Abilities Test (SOI-LA). A population of 263 junior high school and senior high students from Louisiana were tested with both the TTCT and the SOI-LA.…

A framework for categorizing constructed-response items was developed in which items were ordered on a continuum from multiple-choice to presentation/performance according to the degree of constraint placed on the examinee's response. Two investigations were carried out to evaluate the validity of this framework. In the first investigation, 27…

Validity generalization meta-analysis (VG) examines the extent to which the validity of an instrument can be transported across settings. VG offers correction and summarization procedures designed in part to remove the effects of statistical artifacts on estimates of association between criterion and predictor. By employing a random effects model,…

This study provides guidelines for using electronic mail for data collection and sheds light on some of the substantive issues related to research via this medium. Researchers creating electronic interview situations for the study stressed that the atmosphere should be informal and conversational. Interviewees were encouraged to use typical…