A new instrument, the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), was developed. Results from 6 studies with nearly 600 children indicate that the SPAI-C is a reliable and valid measure for childhood social anxiety and fear. It may be useful for improving clinical assessment and documenting treatment outcomes. (SLD)

Rasch calibration procedures were applied to item-response data for the 1,262 infants and toddlers comprising the standardization sample for the Mental Scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Analyses tend to confirm the psychometric integrity of the instrument. (Author)

Three analysis procedures were used to study the dependability and validity of ESLPE, a criterion-referenced English-as-a-Second-Language placement test developed at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1989. Findings led to the suggestion that some students might have been differently placed if subtest scores were used for placement.(38…

Study determined test-retest reliability for 1-mile, three-quarter-mile, and half-mile distance run/walk tests for K-4 students. Students completed testing in various distance conditions. The distance run proved reliable with appropriate age/distance adjustments. Test scores were generally reliable in classifying students with regard to meeting…

Two experiments with approximately 377 newly enlisted Air Force personnel and 182 college students investigated the validity of a reading span test combining a knowledge verification task with a word memorization task. Results support the hypothesis that word recall reflects the amount of working memory functional in reading. (SLD)

The design and reliability testing of two instruments--the Macro Argumentation Structure (MARS) and the Coalition forming and Dominance (CODOM)--to assess the deliberation process (argumentation and interaction) during curriculum conferences/decision making are reported. The study was conducted at the Department of Education of the University of…

The Alcoholism Intervention Performance Evaluation was developed to evaluate interviewing and intervention skills. The scale can be used to provide trainees with instructional feedback or to certify interviewer proficiency. The 35-item rating instrument has 7 factors, an interrater reliability of .73, and a test-retest reliability of .89.…

The Co-worker Involvement Instrument measures involvement with supported employees with disabilities, via items pertaining to physical integration, social integration, vocational integration, training, associating frequency, associating nature, befriending, advocating, evaluating, and information giving. The instrument was found to be a reliable…

The aptitude tests used in Queensland (Australia) to standardize secondary school leavers' school evaluations was assessed for reliability with various student group sizes and for a range of abilities. The error found was significant for small and moderately sized groups, suggesting the need for care in test interpretation. (Author/MSE)

Investigates the reliability of the Instructional Activity Questionnaire, Form 3, Revised, in measuring instructional leadership behaviors of special education supervisors, using a sample of 38 supervisors and 133 special education teachers. Using Cronbach's coefficient alpha, acceptable reliability is found for special education supervisors. (SLD)

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test assesses achievement in students in grades K-12, with subtests in reading, mathematics reasoning, spelling, reading comprehension, numerical operations, listening comprehension, oral expression, and written expression. The test was developed to assist in identification of students with learning…

Dependability of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was studied using both generalizability and classical test score analyses with a sample of 164 elementary school students. Results suggest that sources of error variance interact to decrease dependability of CDI scores. Depression in children might be better assessed through multiple…

Two studies: evaluated the consistency of toddlers' motor activity level over time and across situations; and examined the relations between several measures of activity level and ratings of problem behavior in toddlers. Found that activity level was stable when measured by the same methods in the same situation but not across methods or across…

The Developmental Activities Screening Inventory II (DASI-II) was administered to a group of 13 toddlers with severe disabilities. Results indicated that interrater reliability was statistically significant across raters for all scores reported by the DASI-II and that test-retest stability was statistically significant across administrations and…

A method is proposed for sequential evaluation of reliability of psychometric instruments. Sample size is unfixed; a test statistic is computed after each person is sampled and a decision is made in each stage of the sampling process. Results from a series of Monte-Carlo experiments establish the method's efficiency. (SLD)