The adequacy of equipercentile, linear, one-parameter (Rasch), and three-parameter logistic item-response theory procedures for equating 12 forms of five tests of general educational development were compared. Results indicated the equating method adequacy depends on a variety of factors such as test characteristics, equating design, and sample…

Administered the Hopelessness Scale to criminal psychiatric inpatients, general psychiatric inpatients, and college students. Both psychiatric groups endorsed significantly more items in the hopeless direction. Found the scale more reliable with the psychiatric patients. Item analysis of the Hopelessness Scale suggests that three items were not…

Describes the development of an approach to the measurement of the empathic quality of counselor behavior, featuring the division of the empathy construct into components tapping different aspects of empathic behavior, greater specification of the construct, and a focus on the empathic qualities of individual counselor responses. (Author)

Evaluation of the final examination should be part of the course evaluation and should include student perceptions of the exam's nature and the questions' quality. The final examination experience of two groups of undergraduate and graduate students are considered. (MSE)

Presents a new approach to attitude measuring that provides a comprehensive index of favorability and salience, the primary attributes relevant to the study of any attitudinal issue. The new technique effectively separates indifferent research subjects from those who are neutral toward attitudinal issues. Discusses methodological advantages and…

The Improvisation Test for Individuals consists of 12 roleplays that represent a variety of interpersonal situations. Test teams evaluated the reactions of the subjects to the roleplays and determined interrater reliabilities. Subjects found the roleplays generally realistic and their own performances lifelike. Interrater reliabilities were…

Describes a newly developed method of rating the home environment of primary school children. The method was used in a study to assess the cognitive abilities and school progress of 20 children. Results indicate environmental factors significantly correlate with children's cognitive abilities and demonstrate that not all such factors are related…

Reports the results of a study that examined the technical adequacy of three selected informal reading inventory procedures. (AEA)

Data from a study of 564 disturbed and 333 control Ss shows that all four summary scores of the IJR Behavior Checklist have moderately high validity as measures of the construct child/adolescent psychopathology. (Author/SW)

Reports the test-retest reliability coefficients for each of the five scales of the College Student Satisfaction Questionnaire over a seven-day interval. The reliability coefficients for both male and female private university undergraduate students (N=89) were significantly and uniformly high. (Author)

A comparison of the relative ordering power of separate and grouped-items true-false tests indicated that neither type of test was uniformly superior to the other across all levels of knowledge of examinees. Grouped-item tests were found superior for examinees with low levels of knowledge. (Author/CTM)

Procedures are described for studying the reliability of decisions based on specific passing scores with tests made up of discrete items and designed to measure continuous rather than categorical traits. These procedures are based on the estimation of the joint distribution of true scores and observed scores. (CTM)

The basic rationale for using objective tests is that they are relevant and reliable measures of the most important kind of learning that schools and colleges seek to foster. Measurement of student achievement in learning is necessary, if educational excellence is to be achieved. (Author/SJL)

Gives an overview of the development and testing of an interview instrument used by teachers of English as a second language to assess the oral proficiency of nonnative speakers. (The actual instrument is reprinted in the article that follows this one). (SK)

Outlines stages followed in initial development of an attitude/motivation test battery to study individual differences associated with achievement in French and presents reliability and validity data. Focuses attention on procedures for test construction and evaluation of test adequacy. (Author/BK)