Construct validity of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) was studied in a sample of 194 normal Finnish adolescents from 14 to 16 years of age. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hierarchical structure of adolescents' self-image with 5 lower-order factors loading on a single higher-order factor. Lower-order factors were…

Parents of pupils who were attending elementary schools in a typical medium-size city of Japan were surveyed. Respondents who had a close friend who has a person with intellectual disability (ID) as a family member or who had experience of voluntary work or job-related contact showed clear favorable attitudes. However, they differed greatly from…

Recent studies that purport to estimate the costs of constitutionally adequate education have been described as either a "gold standard" that should guide legislative school finance policy design and judicial evaluation, or as pure "alchemy." Methods for estimating the cost of constitutionally adequate education can be roughly…

A new measure of reading comprehension, the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading Comprehension (DARC), designed to reflect central comprehension processes while minimizing decoding and language demands, was pilot tested. We conducted three pilot studies to assess the DARC's feasibility, reliability, comparability across Spanish and English,…

The review presented and discussed in this paper explores the theoretical underpinnings and research findings of the washback of high-stakes tests in the field of language teaching and testing as well general education and suggests areas and ways of researching the phenomenon in the future. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This testimony describes: (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic…

The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to explore the use of a new rating scale that measures teachers' attitudes toward their students and (b) to investigate the attitudes of inclusive teachers toward their students with disabilities using the rating scale. Fifty inclusive elementary teachers in 12 northeast Ohio schools rated all of…

Objective: The authors developed and validated measures of college drinking expectations, psychosocial influences, and values. Participants: Freshmen at college entry (N = 320) and the end of freshman year (N = 420) participated. Methods: The College Drinking Influences Survey, administered in paper and Web-based versions, consists of 3 distinct…

The Secondary Level Proficiency (SLEP) test, offered by the SLEP School Services Program at the Educational Testing Service, measures English language listening comprehension and reading comprehension skills. It was developed for use with nonnative-English speaking students in grades 7 through 12. The SLEP is administered and scored locally, and…

A study compared the performance of 44 applicants seeking admission to an alternative high school (n=19) and nursing assistant program (n=25) at a Wisconsin postsecondary institution on the Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET) test and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. (Applicants who did not achieve a minimum score on ASSET then…

This report deals with the question of obtaining insights into states of prior knowledge and exploring knowledge state tests and knowledge state profiles. The first part introduces a few basic terms important in the context of prior knowledge state. Evaluation and the validity, reliability, and usefulness of tests are considered in a prior…

In 1991 the Measurement and Evaluation Center of the University of Texas at Austin was asked to develop a test for credit by examination in four lower division courses in Japanese. The test (in Japanese) was constructed from locally developed items provided by instructors of Japanese. The developed test consisted of 80 items distributed among…

The Second International Mathematics Study was conducted in 20 countries under the sponsorship of the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Among the instruments used in this study was a questionnaire investigating student attitudes about school, instruction, and mathematics. The fit of an a priori model that…

The term "Flow Experiences" refers to periods of deep, intense involvement in activities that challenge but do not overwhelm one's skills. As conceptualized by M. Csikszentmihalyi (1990), Flow represents a distinct state of consciousness that integrates high but effortless concentration, intrinsic motivation, loss of awareness of self…

Available test score evidence does not support the common claim that student achievement has declined. On the other hand, the existing evidence cannot be used to prove that student achievement has risen. This paper offers reasons why student achievement in the past cannot be compared accurately with student achievement today: (1) tests, curricula,…