Building on the prior work of Sanaoui (1995), this article reports on the results of administering a self-report questionnaire to students of English as a Second Language to discover the vocabulary learning activities that learners engaged in outside class. Discusses why a structured learning approach did not predict either greater vocabulary…

Describes the development of an English-as-a-Second-Language computer-adaptive test of reading comprehension. The article discusses the constraints that apply to Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) and the advantages of CAT over conventional testing modalities. (29 references) (Author/CK)

Examines standards in language testing, in the context of the legal framework of the United States and the United Kingdom. The article argues that research into test reliability and validity by testing bodies in the United States has a legal basis and examines areas in which examination boards offering English as a foreign language tests in…

Presents a validation study on the Hausa Speaking Test (HAST), a simulated oral proficiency interview. Addressed validity of the HaST through examination of the ratability on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) scale of elicited speech sample and an investigation of the nature of probes on the HaST through speaking…

Tested the validity of the Brigid Collins Risk Screener (BCRS) to assess child abuse risk in a sample of 49 expectant mothers. Found that at 3 months postpartum, high-risk mothers scored significantly lower on the quality of infants' physical, social, and emotional environments than moderate or low-risk mothers. Concluded that the BCRS appears to…

A study compared the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised in 61 children (ages 4-16) with autism. Correlations between the test scores for DSM-IV criterion sets were on the order of 0.7. SRS scores were unrelated to I.Q. and exhibited inter-rater reliability on the order of 0.8. (Contains references.)…

Uses the Technology Acceptance Model constructs of usefulness and ease of use to assess university students' acceptance of course Web sites as an effective learning tool. Reports results of a survey of undergraduates and discusses the reliability and validity of the Course Website Acceptance Model. (Contains 56 references.) (Author/LRW)

Established the longitudinal factorial construct validity of the Quality of Life Scale designed originally to measure the well-being of students in Australian high schools. Results for 5,932 secondary students (1993) and 8,269 students (1999) support the factorial construct validity of the measure. (SLD)

Examined the construct and concurrent validity of the Parenting Behavior Questionnaire-Head Start (PBQ-HS) with low-income African-American families with preschoolers, and whether parenting styles differed by caregiver characteristics. Derived Active-Responsive, Active-Restrictive, and Passive-Permissive parenting dimensions; the last differed…

This study compared 136 second, third, and fourth graders considered to be at high, moderate, and low risk of behavior disorders on several variables. The Critical Events Index was used; primary differences among the groups were on indicators of social competence and externalizing behaviors. (CR)

The perceptions of students toward conservation and nature utilization and their behavior toward the environment were studied with 725 Danish adolescents and a previously studied group of Bavarian adolescents. Following construct validation, comparison of mean within-region factor values reveals substantial differences between countries. (SLD)

Twenty-two children with mild mental retardation, 27 children with learning disabilities, and 49 nondisabled peers (ages 4-5) were presented with a battery of eight cognitive tasks being considered for inclusion in a new screening test. Results found the components measured different cognitive tasks and led to accurate individual classification…

Describes development and use of the Course Experience Questionnaire to measure perceived teaching quality in higher education, and construction of a new generic teaching skills scale. Evaluation with large multidisciplinary samples in Australia confirmed reliability and validity of both short and long forms. Criterion and discriminant validity…

This study, third in a series using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), demonstrates the usefulness of multidimensional representation of mathematics achievement as it extends analyses through grade 12. Findings support a distinction between mathematical reasoning and knowledge for two of the three test forms.…

The usefulness of small-scale interview studies to explore the validity of science achievement tests in several formats was studied with 141 high school students and 49 fifth and sixth graders. Results, which provided evidence of test validity, also support the use of small-scale qualitative interviews in test validation. (SLD)