Much of the language and many constructs used in testing and assessment must be redefined in order for testing instruments to be valid for use with children of African-American descent. These children are products of unique linguistic environments. Current educational assessment tools are insensitive to the cultural-linguistic diversity of the…

A RELIABLE NORMATIVE TEST COVERING A SAMPLE OF TEACHING SKILLS IN READING INSTRUCTION FOR GRADES 2-5 WAS CONSTRUCTED AND VALIDATED. THE HYPOTHESIS WAS MADE THAT TEACHERS BECOME MORE SKILLFUL IN SOLVING TEACHING PROBLEMS AS THEY GAIN EXPERIENCE. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT A VALID TEST OF TEACHER SKILLS IN READING SHOULD THEREFORE REFLECT THIS PROCESS.…

FOLLOWING DISCUSSION OF THE NATURE AND VALIDITY OF NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT VALIDITY OF SELECTION PRACTICES CONCERNS CONSIDERATIONS BEYOND A COEFFICIENT OF CORRELATION BETWEEN A SET OF PREDICTOR SCORES AND A SET OF JOB PERFORMANCE CRITERIA. THE REAL VALUE OF A SELECTION PROGRAM LIES IN ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN…

TWO QUESTIONNAIRES FOR MEASURING VOCATIONAL NEEDS WERE DEVELOPED. NEED WAS DEFINED AS "NEED FOR SPECIFIED REINFORCING CONDITIONS IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT." THE N-FACTORS QUESTIONNAIRE (NFQ) CONSISTED OF 48 TWO-RESPONSE CHOICE ITEMS, FOUR ITEMS FOR EACH OF 12 SCALES--ACHIEVEMENT, AUTHORITY, COWORKERS, CREATIVITY AND CHALLENGE, DEPENDENCE,…

FIFTY-ONE SURVEY-TYPE GROUP READING TESTS DESIGNED FOR USE WITH HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE SUMMARIZED AND REVIEWED BRIEFLY. INFORMATION IS GIVEN ON THE RELIABILITY, VALIDITY, CONTENT, NUMBER OF FORMS, GRADE LEVEL, WORKING AND ADMINISTRATION TIME, DATA, PUBLISHER, GENERAL ABILITIES MEASURED, AND AUTHORS OF EACH TEST. COMMENTS ABOUT TEST…

ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO DISCOVER WHETHER THE OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOR SYMPTOMS OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOL SETTING, WHEN MEASURED BY OBJECTIVE SCREENING METHODS, WILL REFLECT FAMILIES THAT HAVE DISORDERED BEHAVIOR. THE OBJECTIVES INCLUDED TESTING THE VALIDITY OF TWO BEHAVIOR RATING SCALES, DEVELOPING A SINGLE RATING TEST, AND ANALYZING THE…

THE REPORT OF UNESCO COMMITTEE STATED THAT THERE WERE NOT MEASURABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHAT IS DUE TO INNATE CAPACITY AND WHAT IS THE RESULT OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES, TRAINING, AND EDUCATION. TESTS WHICH HAVE MADE ALLOWANCE FOR MOST DIFFERENCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES HAVE SHOWN ESSENTIAL SIMILARITY IN MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS AMONG ALL…

This paper presents a rationale for observing black mothers during semi-structured play activities with their toddlers. It appraises the strengths and weaknesses of such situational assessments of mother-infant dyads, arguing that in addition to observational data the collection of introspective interview data from mothers is essential. Interview…

In order to explore relationships among social cognitive ability, peer status and interpersonal behavior, the frequency of 11 different social actions was recorded with the target child being the agent of the recipient of the behavior. Twenty-three children from 3 to 8 years of age enrolled in an 8-week university summer school program were…

The measurement of personality characteristics via the analysis of verbal communication is of interest due to its unobtrusive, accessible, and objective nature. The Mahl Speech Disturbance Indices, a procedure for assessing anxiety on the basis of speech disturbance patterns, was examined to assess the nature and reliability of the indices and…

Two approaches to setting standards for the professional performance of teachers are contrasted. One involves a coherent professional belief system in which an internal standard is invoked within a conceptual framework. It is exemplified by Sigel's Distancing Model, and involves a theoretical standard for teacher performance and emphasizes the…

A number of examples are presented to illustrate a common flaw in the published research on learning, memory, and instruction. Experimental subjects--often college students--have certain expectations about the problems they will be asked to solve and about the questions that will appear on reading comprehension or recall tests; these expectations…

A theory was conceived to explain student, teacher, and classroom environment characteristics or constructs, which may influence student attitudes toward school and various subjects. A questionnaire representing the constructs, the Inventory of Affective Aspects of Schooling (IAAS), was developed and administered to 601 students in grade 4. Factor…

The English language portions of appropriate levels of the Language Assessment Scales (LAS) were administered to 193 English-speaking monolingual elementary school students. The students were aged 5-14, and had average reading achievement scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. On the basis of the publisher's norms, maturational trends in scores…

The Situational Self-statement and Affective State Inventory, a research inventory comprised of five hypothetical situations involving interpersonal conflict, and a series of self-report measures of psychopathology were administered to 224 undergraduates to examine the correlational relationship between specific cognitions and affective states in…