Factor analysis was performed on the Charles F. Kettering (CFK) scale (a measure of school climate). The multivariate analysis of responses by 1,163 students, teachers, and administrators indicated that new subscales should be designed to improve overall scale validity. (TJH)

Chinese engineering students (n=29) scored significantly higher than Chinese English-as-a-second-language students (n=29) on an engineering-English reading test, although 62 percent of the variation in scores was accounted for by general English language proficiency rather than by components specific to engineering English. (Author/CB)

A systematic assessment procedure successfully identified stimulus preferences of seven profoundly and multiply handicapped individuals (ages 12-34). Preference rankings based on caregiver opinion did not consistently coincide with these results. Systematically assessed student preferences were a likely, though not certain, source of reinforcing…

Evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Children's Beliefs about Parental Divorce Scale with three nonclinic samples. Demonstrated six subscales: Peer Ridicule and Avoidance, Paternal Blame, Fear of Abandonment, Maternal Blame, Hope of Reunification, and Self-Blame. The number of problematic beliefs varied by family structure but not by…

Dimensions characteristically descriptive of applied behavior analysis over the past 20 years are explored: applied, behavioral, analytic, conceptual, technological, effective, and capable of appropriately generalized outcomes. Effectiveness in the future must take into account cost-benefit ratios, social validity assessments, and the need for…

Investigated the validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with a sample of black low socioeconomic status preschool children enrolled in a Head Start program. Used the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale as a criterion. Demonstrated convergent and construct validity, but suggests that the K-ABC is no more culture fair for…

Examines the impact of online systems designed to be searched by end users on the process of database and product evaluation. Two testing methods, beta tests and user surveys, are evaluated, and possible solutions to testing problems are suggested. (CLB)

Describes how exclusive reliance on traditional achievement measures as indices of intellectual potential, and the ensuing competition among nursing schools for the most academically able students, has created a caste system that has left the task of educating the "less able" to Black collegiate institutions. (Author/GC)

Describes the construction of a nonreading instrument (Preschool Reading Attitudes Scale) designed to assess attitudes toward reading in young children, aged three through five years. Demonstrates the scale to be valid and reliable with these age groups. (HOD)

The impact of the Subset Selection Technique (SST) for multiple-choice items on certain properties of a test was compared with that of two other methods, the Number Right and the Correction for Guessing Formula. Results indicated that SST outperformed the other two, producing higher reliability and validity without favoring high risk takers.…

The predictive validity of the California Achievement Test, Reading (CAT-R) was examined for 480 Hispanic and Anglo pupils in Grades 2 and 3. The validity of the CAT-R as a predictor for reading for combined groups of Hispanic and Anglo pupils appeared to be limited. (Author/LMO)

Huggins' report lacks serious data collection on college Black Studies Departments, omits the strongest ones, fails to record their history accurately, and does not assess the research achievements of its scholars. Huggins overlooks the importance of applying an Afro-centric perspective to phenomena related to people of African descent. (PS)

Higher education institutions in Australia are cautioned against placing too much emphasis in admissions on previous academic performance, whose predictive validity is questioned, and too little emphasis on other important factors relating to equity in the selection process and to educational supply and demand. (MSE)

Three studies evaluating the reliability and validity of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (OM-EIS) are reported. Two studies analyzed college students' results from the OM-EIS, the Extended Range Vocabulary Test, the Crowne-Marlowe Social Disability Scale and achievement records. Study 3 correlated high school seniors' OM-EIS scores…

Forty-two fourth- and fifth-grade teachers rated their 1,032 students in the five curricular subjects: reading, mathematics, language arts, science, and social science. The teachers' ratings substantially agreed with students' scores on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, indicating the concurrent validity of standardized achievement tests.…