The authors attempt to show how the dissemination of uncorrected state Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores may have created an inaccurate public and governmental perception of the variation in educational quality. Their research demonstrates that comparing state SAT averages is ill-advised unless these ratings are corrected for compositional and…

A scheme was developed for discovering what "moral" means among a given group so that moral incidents used to investigate their moral development would conform to their own meaning. Based on this scheme, an instrument was developed and field-tested with Haitian and U.S. American respondents. (BW)

The Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents (SIQYA), an adaptation of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ), designed to measure aspects of self-image among young adolescents, was administered to two groups of sixth graders. The development of the SIQYA is described and reliability and validity results are presented. (EGS)

Presents the historical, technological, and pedagogical factors that led to high expectations in the use of language laboratories for teaching foreign languages. Presents findings of five studies on laboratory effectiveness showing that efficiency tests were largely irrelevant and inconclusive. Includes 10 proposals for language laboratory use.…

Examined the benefits to an admissions office of using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in predicting freshmen grades (N=169 and N=172). Results suggested the SAT does not increase predictive validity substantially beyond the high school record. Presents an alternative admissions strategy based on multiple regression. (JAC)

Concludes that there are numerous problems with the test studied. Argues that the abilities it assesses and their relationship to reading and reading instruction are not sufficiently understood to warrant the test's use. (FL)

School districts need valid and reliable information before they make difficult decisions. Objective research can provide a reliable base of information. (MD)

Investigated the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) using 535 Canadian high school students. As expected, intelligence, grade, and sex were significant predictors of the CMI variables. However, evidence for discriminant validity was unsatisfactory and inconsistent with the theoretical framework of CMI. (JAC)

This article reviews the Basic Achievement Skills Individual Screener (BASIS), an individually administered achievement battery that consists of skills tests in reading, mathematics, and spelling as well as an optional writing exercise. BASIS is found to be an effective and efficient means of assessing basic skills. (Author/EGS)

This study examined the relationships of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 measures of locus of control and self-esteem to differential goal attainment in education, work, marriage, and fertility. The results raise questions about the validity of the measures, their underlying theories, or both. (Author/BW)

The Self Lesson Report Form (SLRF) was designed as an alternative to direct classroom observation or to commonly used questionnaires in which students and/or teachers report on general practices used in their classes. Describes the SLRF, assesses its validity/reliability, and illustrates kinds of information obtained using the SLRF in Israel…

Researchers evaluated the construct validity of attitude measures containing feeling, belief, and intention-to-act components. Evidence strongly suggests that treating these three factors as unidimensional concepts is inadequate for measuring health attitudes--a multidimensional approach is needed. (PP)

Identifies several issues related to the evaluation of educational software and offers some suggestions to help teachers learn more about how computers can be used to improve the teaching of English (HOD)

The effects of age and education on Halstead test performance were examined in this cross-validation of the Vega and Parsons study. Differences between correlation in psychiatric patients and medical-surgical control subjects are discussed, as is the importance of age, and differences in reference groups when making clinical inferences about brain…

Individual differences in optimal level of stimulation as operationalized by the Sensation Seeking Scale significantly differentiated volunteers for hypnosis and encounter groups from non-volunteers. This confirmed predictions and extended the findings of previous work regarding encounter group volunteers. (NG)