The process proposed for the development and use of computer-based testing, including simulation and multiple-choice questions, as part of the National Board of Medical Examiners' certification sequence is outlined. Summary reports of first-phase pilot testing in six medical schools are appended. (MSE)

Describes and analyzes the social organization of testing as an interactional phenomenon. Provides examples of exchanges between clinician and child in a diagnostic testing situation. States these coorientational activities demonstrate that testing has an interactional basis. Explores the implications for research on bias in mental testing. (NL)

The validity and reliability of some measures of general education outcomes of college attendance are reviewed. Research to improve the accuracy of concordance estimates of mean gains is reported, based on analysis of 22 4-year longitudinal studies using instruments from the College Outcome Measures Program. (SLD)

Traditional measures such as Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and grade point averages are not adequate to predict academic achievement of lower-achieving students. Combining traditional predictors with nontraditional ones (including psychological and cognitive variables) produces a more effective predictor model. (IAH)

Developed paper-and-pencil and microcomputer versions of prototype occupational interest inventory for academically disadvantaged or functionally illiterate adults. Compared results obtained from 30 such adults on the United States Employment Service Interest Inventory and both versions of the prototype inventory. Results revealed acceptable…

Explored measuring psychic entropy (loss of motivation, unfocused attention, passivity, bad moods) in junior and senior high school students (N=22) and noted predictability of gender and grade using Psychic Entropy Measure for Adolescents. Found results did not support hypotheses that girls experience greater psychic entropy than boys or that…

Examined validity of test battery, organized by theoretical framework of levels of language processing and production, at end of kindergarten and first grade. At end of kindergarten two levels of oral language (pnonemic and lexical) and at end of first grade three levels of oral language (phonemic, lexical, and text) were correlated with word…

Presented are a rationale for identifying hearing loss in infancy and a history of screening procedures. The Crib-O-Gram and auditory brainstem response (ABR) tests are evaluated for reliability, validity, and cost-effectiveness. The ABR is recommended, and fully automated ABR instrumentation, which lowers expenses for trained personnel and…

Describes the chronic and acute subscales (SOMAC and SOMAA) of the Chinese Somatic Scale that was administered to 2150 Hong Kong secondary education students to measure their psychological well being. Results showed that both the SOMAC and SOMAA had acceptable reliability and validity status as compared with similar type tests. (GG)

Describes the status of controversies regarding the definition of intelligence, its measurement, and the relative roles of heredity versus environment in the development of individual differences. Intelligence tests alone are inconclusive in examining individual children. (Author/BJV)

A peer nomination scale was designed to assess the degree to which children were subjected to direct physical and verbal abuse by peers. Subjects were 165 third through sixth grade students. Children's victimization scores were uncorrelated with their aggression scores, negatively correlated with peer acceptance, and positively correlated with…

The effects of using item response theory (IRT) ability estimates based on customized tests formed by selecting areas from a nationally standardized achievement test were examined. For some populations, in some conditions, IRT ability estimates can be equivalent to scores based on full-length tests. (SLD)

Examines problems of instructional evaluation in urban schools using signal-receptor assessment theory analysis and a new type of test scoring procedure called Modified Confidence Weighted-Admissible Probability Measurement (MCW-APM). Discusses advantages of MCW-APM. (FMW)

Assessed native Brazilian students' affective reactions to different oral English-as-a-Foreign-Language achievement test formats. A multivariate analysis of variance based on the results of a factor analysis showed no significant difference among student reactions to the different test formats. (Author/CB)

Evaluation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 130 primary school children in Zaire revealed three findings: (1) the distinction between sequential processing and simultaneous processing was valid; (2) the K-ABC discriminated effectively among grade levels, health and family environment variables, and tribal membership; and…