Discusses the characteristics of three popular readability formulas: the Dale-Chall, the Fry Graph, and the Spache. Describes text based and reader/text based alternatives. Offers appropriate applications of each form of assessment. (FL)

Language delay became increasingly apparent with age, and more so in boys than in girls. There was no significant difference between mental ages derived from standard ability tests and corresponding age equivalent scores of a symbolic play test. A developmental progression of play similar to that seen in non-handicapped groups was found. (RH)

This study reports the preliminary results of the development and validation of a test designed to measure listening comprehension as a predictor of reading comprehension, the Simon-Dole Listening Comprehension Test (SDLCT). (Author/LMO)

A survey of speech communication departments and a review of the literature indicate that most speech communication researchers continue to use college students as their primary source of subjects. The problem of sampling is discussed and methods for dealing with generality are offered. (PD)

Responding to doubts about the validity of test results that showed the Pittsburgh School District's school improvement project to be highly successful, the district validated its results by administering a different test to a representative sample of students in secure conditions. (MCG)

Presents a survey of the procedures and policies governing testing of second language ability for admission into Canadian postsecondary institutions. Findings indicate that most institutions use some means of measuring English as a second language but that testing procedures and policies had rarely been subjected to validation studies within the…

The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to 72 upper-level and graduate students. Item-responses were intercorrelated and subjected to factor analyses. Support was obtained for the three hypothesized factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. (Author/GDC)

Investigated the use of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC)-Nonverbal Scale with severely hearing impaired children (N=49), using two instructional sets (American sign language (ASL) plus pantomime and gestures, or pantomime and gesture (PG) instructions only). Support is provided for the appropriateness of the K-ABC, for use with…

This study finds that the chief existing teacher evaluation methods (measuring teacher characteristics, student achievement test scores, and teacher performance rating scales) are subjective, open to bias, closed to public scrutiny, and based on irrelevancies. The study advocates evaluation procedures that are performance-based and empirically…

Two common strategies for assessing writing techniques and objective techniques are compared in a study of third-grade students. Student performance on selected response and constructed response test items, measuring the identification and construction of complete sentences, is compared. Results suggest that selected response items may lack…

On the basis of a study involving 40 first-grade students, compares Pascual-Leone's and Keating and Bobbitt's developmental theories of information processing by contrasting their predictions about a classification task. Results falsified Keating and Bobbitt's model. Predictions from Pascual-Leone's theory were almost wholly confirmed. (RH)

Adds information to the consistency and reliability of the Kuhn Energy Questionnaire's factor structure by presenting a statistical analysis of the 25-item instrument based on data from two additional populations--high-school students (N=245) and teachers (N=547) in Arizona. Results lend support to a two-scale structure of the questionnaire. (BC)

The concurrent validity of the Diagnostic Analysis of Reading Errors (DARE) subtests was studied, based on the responses of Lebanese secondary and postsecondary students relative to their achievement in an English course or on a standardized test of English proficiency. The results indicate that the DARE is not a viable predictor of English…

The Proficiency Examination Program (PEP) of the American College Testing Program is used to place diploma nurses into the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at an upper-division university. This study found PEP tests were valid for this purpose by two criteria: academic success and retention. (Author/BS)

Specific aptitude clusters from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJPEB) are examined to determine their effectiveness in evaluating aptitude-achievement discrepancies. Advantages of the Scholastic Aptitude clusters over the Broad Cognitive Ability clusters are outlined. Major types of discrepancies, rationale, and research on the…