This exploratory study investigated the relationships among three aspects of cognitive style and reading performance on the Gray Oral Reading Test for a sample of 100 fourth graders with IQs in the 85 to 115 range. The results indicated that there was a cognitive shift from reflection-impulsivity to automatization at the fourth-grade level, that…

Possible methods of improving the effectiveness of curriculum materials are listed and analyzed. Three factors are identified as heightening concern over effectiveness: the quantity of materials available, increasing decentralization of schooling, and the accountability movement. Basic issues discussed include evaluation of learning materials,…

In this paper, an attempt has been made to synthesize some of the current thinking in the area of criterion-referenced testing as well as to provide the beginning of an integration of theory and method for such testing. Since criterion-referenced testing is viewed from a decision-theoretic point of view, approaches to reliability and validity…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the various characteristics of successful and less successful students and to determine what effect these characteristics have on achievement in an individualized learning program. Variables considered were: (1) attitudes, (2) motivation, (3) understandings about science, (4) personality, (5)…

Two scales designed to measure cognitive preferences were constructed; this study was designed to validate these scales, and to investigate the relationship between instruction and cognitive preference. Items for both scales had elementary mathematics content. One scale was intended to measure deductive-inductive preference, the other…

This paper describes six existing evaluator-auditor working formats and the conditions which foster credibility of evaluation findings. Evaluators were classified as: (1) member of project developmental team, accountable to project director; (2) independent internal evaluator, accountable to system in general but not to project directors, and (3)…

This article presents views of proponents and opponents to standardized tests, isolates the major weakness of testing--questionable validity--and offers several recommendations for the betterment of test development and use. Some major misuses of tests include the following: (a) tests are at times administered with no clear purpose; (b) test…

The Miller Analogies Test, speeded and somewhat powerized, is a highly verbal test that calls for analogies using words drawn from various academic disciplines. It has been given since 1961 to those who requested it and to all those who proceeded through the Master's program at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. Of 821 students who took…

The need for an empirically defensible means of sequencing instruction appears to have been the primary motivator for research into learning hierarchies. Also, valid learning hierarchies could act as congealing forces in individualizing instructional systems by providing psychological roadmaps for diagnosing students' preinstructional skills and…

A series of tests using OpScan 100DM optical scanner were carried out to determine whether it can mechanically transport paper that does not comply with the manufacturer's specifications for weight and size and see if standard paper stock has sufficient quality, opacity, and brightness to permit it to be used to print forms for the OpScan 100DM.…

As part of the Final Report of the National Study of American Indian Education, this paper reports on the reliability of rating scales used in analyzing the interviews conducted during the study. Approximately 4,000 interviews, which covered "adequate samples of people in the schools and communities" that were studied, were deemed valid as a…

The results of this study empirically demonstrate the importance of cross-validating an instrument intended for use in a future study. The instrument used was the Teachers' Practices Questionnaire (TPQ) which had been devised in 1963 to measure teachers' subjective role expectations. Three samples of undergraduate and graduate students who were,…

Presented is a critical inquiry about the product of the informal reading inventory (IRI) and about some of the elements used in the process of determining that product. Recent developments on this topic are briefly reviewed. Questions are raised concerning what is a suitable criterion level for word recognition. The original criterion of 95…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive relationships which exist between eight selected prereading measures and three criterion measures of reading achievement at the end of grade one in each of six different approaches to beginning reading instruction. Two randomly selected samples of boys and girls were the subjects. The…

Four selected scales from the Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) were rewritten to measure the students' individual perceptions of their classroom environment, rather than their estimates of the opinions of the class as a whole. Both scales were then administered to 10 7th grade math classes and 4 10th grade social studies classes. The rewritten…