Reports findings of a study that examined the extent to which the variability observed in reading levels of common junior high textbooks was also present in four popular high school social studies texts. (FL)

While controlling for overall intellectual level, this study assessed the interpersonal problem-solving skills of 150 families via written tests and behavioral performances. Interrelationships between written and behavioral interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills were examined, as were the relationships of each problem-solving measure to…

Argues that the Degrees of Reading Power test is not a valid tool for its main purpose, matching students to appropriate texts, because the test's units of text difficulty are not uniformly comparable to the test's units used to reflect a reader's ability. (HOD)

Explains significant but accounted for factors that affected the validity of the Degrees of Reading Power Test. (HOD)

A study involving 95 retarded persons (16-66 years old) revealed that the Objective Behavioral Assessment-OBA-, a behavioral system for assessing self-care, social, sheltered domestic, prevocational, and sheltered work performance skills, has a high degree of objectivity and acceptable standards of inter-rater and test-retest reliability. (CL)

Two levels of the Students' Attitudes Toward the Mentally Handicapped (SAMH) inventory were developed and administered to fourth and seventh graders (N=306). Results suggested that internal reliability estimates of responses on subscales and total scale were acceptable; the SAMH was useful in assessing student attitudes toward mentally handicapped…

The 15 components used for assessment in an introductory psychology course were examined to determine their relative value as predictors of overall performance. Multiple-choice tests were consistently found to be more effective than essay examinations, but arguments are presented for the retention of essays, with suggestions for their improvement.…

Describes a study which submitted data from a multiple-choice English as a second language reading comprehension test to classical test theory item analysis and latent trait measurement. The purpose was to identify weak items and to compare the number of weak items indicated by the two different approaches. (SED)

A study of the comparability of results of two techniques of testing, the traditional approach and that of giving the students the questions before the examination, revealed little difference in the two approaches' results, and supports the use of "prior notice" to reduce test anxiety. (MSE)

A new instrument designed to assess perceptions and attitudes toward proposal development and funding was administered to 416 American Educational Research Association members. The instrument demonstrated good scaling properties and high internal consistency. Discriminations beyond the chance level were obtained on both sex and proposal…

Discusses the characteristics of three popular readability formulas: the Dale-Chall, the Fry Graph, and the Spache. Describes text based and reader/text based alternatives. Offers appropriate applications of each form of assessment. (FL)

The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to 72 upper-level and graduate students. Item-responses were intercorrelated and subjected to factor analyses. Support was obtained for the three hypothesized factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. (Author/GDC)

The reliability of criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) used in health program evaluation can be conceptualized in different ways. Formulas are presented for estimating appropriate standard error of measurement (SEM) for CRTs. The SEM can be used in computing confidence intervals for domain score estimates and for a cut-score. (Author/LMO)

An experiment testing the reliability of student self-evaluation is reported, and issues in using grades as incentives and in measuring academic achievement objectively are discussed, emphasizing the qualitative aspects of achievement as well as the quantitative. (MSE)

Investigated the internal consistency reliability estimates of the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) for 96 Anglo and Mexican American third-grade boys from low socioeconomic status background. The results showed that the reliability estimates of the CPM for the two ethnic groups were acceptably high and extremely similar in magnitude.…