Describes the development of the Career Success Expectations Scale and its application to two different significant career transitions. Two samples (161 managers and 103 managers obtaining a graduate degree) were used in exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and the three-factor structure from the exploratory analysis was confirmed with…

This article discusses development of the Blind Rehabilitation Services Functional Outcomes Survey during a research project on the rehabilitation of adults with visual impairments. It describes the development process, the methods used in establishing survey reliability and validity, and the results of intermediate analyses of the data. (Contains…

The D-48, a nonverbal test of general intelligence, was administered to 250 Mexican American and Anglo American community college students. Analysis of D-48 scores indicates no significant differences due to ethnicity or gender; adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability; and significant correlations with grade point average and…

Psychometric properties of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) were examined. Findings suggested that the CDI reflects the progress of language development within the age range 10 to 27 months. Findings support caution in using results to identify individuals at risk for language deficits, to compare groups with different…

The initial psychometric properties of the Assessment for Dual Diagnosis (ADD), a new scale designed to screen for psychopathology in individuals with mild and moderate mental retardation, was examined. The ADD was found to have high stability across raters, high stability over time, and good internal consistency. (Author/DB)

This study investigated the reliability and construct validity of a peer nomination form used to identify 670 Hispanic students of outstanding talent from three southwestern school districts. Results indicated adequate reliability, and suggestions are offered for improving the instrument's validity. (DB)

Approaches to Studying Inventory was administered to 503 adult students, most returning to study after many years. Results indicate low internal consistency for seven subscales. Comparison with results of mathematics instructional unit suggests learning orientations are fundamental and identifiable in students returning to study after long…

The National Center for Student Aspirations developed the Student Aspirations Survey to address issues of student aspirations at the secondary level. The developed instrument, 98 items with 13 scales, was administered to 1,674 students from rural and suburban high schools. Results provide evidence of internal consistency, although the factor…

Psychometric support for the use of the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC), a self-report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was provided by a study involving 639 high-risk adolescents. The LASC had appropriate levels of reliability and appeared to detect distress and PTSD as a function of trauma exposure. (SLD)

Finds that graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) experience eight interrelated types of communication concern (self, task, impact, role conflict, teaching, area knowledge, procedural knowledge, and time management). Shows that GTA variables of expected duties, prior teaching experience, newness to area, foreign or domestic birth, and age are likely…

This article examines assessment instruments, measurement considerations, and factors that affect understanding of a child's creativity. It compares strengths and weaknesses of methods of assessing creativity and lists more than 60 standardized assessment measures. Procedures for using formal and informal measures in the decision-making process…

This volume is the fourth in a series for college faculty and advanced graduate students, "Survival Skills for Scholars." It offers practical advice for developing, using, and grading classroom examinations, focusing on traditional multiple-choice and constructed-response tests rather than alternative assessments. (SLD)

This article proposes a new type of pronunciation test, based on the variability principle and language continuum paradigm developed by Tarone (1983, 1985). Trials with 80 elementary and 73 university students indicate that the test distinguishes between subjects with and without phonetic training and is generally reliable and valid. Contains 31…

This study examined test characteristics of the Pediatric Language Acquisition Screening Tool for Early Referral-Revised (PLASTER-R), a set of developmental questionnaires for children 3 to 60 months of age. The PLASTER-R was moderately to highly successful in identifying children within normal limits for language development. Test-retest…

Presents the American Educational Research Association's position on high-stakes educational testing, which stresses conditions essential to sound implementation of such testing, including: protection against high-stakes decisions based on single tests; adequate resources and opportunity to learn; validation for each intended use; alignment…