Describes a study involving 29 low-income parents with learning difficulties that validated a prescriptive home-danger and safety-precaution instrument containing 14 epidemiological categories to be used in the design and evaluation of family-tailored injury prevention and safety interventions. (Author/CR)

A survey of 44 national authorities in best practices for students with severe cognitive disabilities found a high degree of professional congruence on the core of best practices embodied in the performance criteria for Kentucky's alternate assessment for students with significant disabilities. Concerns about more limited learner outcomes are…

The validity of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory was tested with a sample of 134 Chilean adults. The scale was able to discriminate between abusing and nonabusing individuals. The items which had the greatest discriminating power were related to feelings of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and family problems. (CR)

Describes United States literacy characteristics, based on April 2000 reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Discusses Angoff methods for evaluating validity of high-stakes testing programs in Massachusetts and Virginia. (MLH)

Data from 77 ninth-grade Spanish students who took an objective test, a performance assessment, and a measure of perceptions of control indicate that control perceptions predict scores on performance assessments, not objective tests. Performance assessments thus reflect motivational variables beyond the constructs being tested. (SK)

The accuracy of the Brigance K&1 Screen in the early identification of Head Start children with possible cognitive/academic giftedness was explored with 134 children, 13 of whom were identified as potentially gifted on the K-ABC. These potentially gifted children also performed significantly better on the Brigance than did other children.…

Explores the inclusion of scholarship about Latinas into psychology courses by asking how to evaluate the scholarship that should be included and the factors that should be considered for inclusion. Conceptualizations of identity, gender role socialization, and educational achievement and aspirations lack validity if Latinas are not included. (SLD)

A study involving 105 sixth-graders examined three aspects of technical adequacy with respect to two general outcome measures in mathematics: the effects of aggregating scores and correcting for random guessing on reliability and validity and the extent to which the measures were sensitive to changes in performance. (Contains references.)…

This article provides an overview of strength-based assessment of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders and discusses the development and psychometric characteristics of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS). The BERS is a norm-referenced, standardized test that assesses the strengths of children and…

Comparison of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Third Edition) and the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) with 78 special education students found that the WISC-III identified more children, especially more black children, as having mental retardation. Results imply that the problem of disproportionate identification of black children…

Important work of Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey and John Mayer on emotional intelligence (EI) is discussed to illustrate recent theorizing on EI. The article discusses conceptual and measurement problems that presently challenge the usefulness of the EI construct and urges further research. (Author/CR)

Addresses effects of reporting bias on spouses' answers to questions by comparing one-partner and couple data on marital violence. Results indicate significant underreporting of violence, and that some predictors of violence are significantly related to underreporting by one spouse. (JPS)

Addresses the debate over aversive versus nonaversive treatment for preschool children with severe behavior disorders. Discusses problematic aspects of an ideological approach to behavior disorder treatment; relative intrusiveness of psychoactive medications; alternatives to legal actions against school districts; side effects; therapeutic effects…

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), initially developed for undergraduate medical education, has been adapted for assessment of clinical skills in podiatry students. A 12-month pilot study found the test had relatively low levels of reliability, high construct and criterion validity, and good stability of performance over time.…

The Child Behavior Rating Form (CBRF) was adapted for use with children having mental retardation and was named the Nisonger CBRF. Independent factor analyses of parent and teacher ratings for 369 children produced 2 Social Competence subscales and 6 Problem Behavior subscales. Internal consistency was generally high and parent-teacher agreement…