Administered the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (ATDP) scale to rehabilitation counseling graduate students (N=33) with instructions either to answer honestly or to fake a favorable attitude. Found scores significantly elevated under the faking condition. (Author/ABB)

To improve the testing of students' skills in performing laboratory experiments, 92 Israeli high school physics teachers participated in the development of a list of weighted laboratory skills. Sensory-motor coordination was found to be a significant measured factor. Factors affecting reliability were also noted. (GDC)

Developed from research about and teacher experience with children and creativity, the Creative Processes Rating Scale was tested with 100 sixth graders and found to be an effective instrument (which can be used by teachers with no experience in art) for assessing the creative processes of children in the visual arts. (Author/CB)

Three frequently used response formats are compared via analysis of covariance structures. The cumulative results based on four data sets provided evidence inconsistent with previous research suggesting that these formats are interchangeable. The semantic-differential format is most preferred while in most cases the Stapel format is least…

Reports the results of a study of the match between teacher-made tests and level of instructional objectives for 74 secondary social studies teachers. Concludes that: (1) only a slight majority of teachers think higher order objectives are important, and (2) that few translate this opinion into their instruction or testing. (JDH)

This article discusses the validity issue in teacher-made tests. Seventh-grade students' comments about their responses to a test designed to illustrate faulty items suggests students are quite proficient in using secondary clues to figure out correct answers. Teacher comments suggest teachers are unaware they provide such clues. (Author/JAZ)

Describes the technical methodological procedures for the construction of reliable and valid scales to measure constructs relevant to research on counseling process and outcomes. Working with a multivariate model of the counseling process, three studies are reported which rely on the use of rating scales. (KS)

As part of a longitudinal study, Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) performance was assessed at age 11 and related to California Child Q-Sort evaluations obtained both concurrently and at age 14. Offers evidence for a "competence" interpretation rather than a "conceptual tempo" interpretation of the MFFT and strongly…

Takes issue with the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation report (Schweinhart, Weikart and Larner, 1986) indicating that preschoolers taught by direct instruction end up with twice the rate of delinquency of children who participated in High/Scope's own kind of preschool education. Argues that self-report methodology invalidates High/Scope…

Responds to commentaries by Bereiter and Gersten concerning findings of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation's 15-year Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study. Addresses issues of design of study, experimenter bias, sample size, self-report validity, interpretation of findings, and related topics. (NH)

The Student Development Inventory and its seven subscales were administered to 163 college students to determine its reliability and factorial validity. Results suggested that it is a reliable and convenient attitudinal inventory. (Sample items are included.) (Author/GDC)

To verify its factor structure and construct validity, the Science Teacher Inventory of Need was administered to Malaysian secondary school teachers, using English-language and Bahasa Malaysia versions. Validity and reliability were adequate. The resulting six factors involved instruction, updating knowledge and teaching skills, diagnosing…

Factor analyses of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) were performed on separate groups of Anglo (n=100) and Mexican-American (n=100) fifth-grade children to determine the comparability of underlying structures and to examine the existence of possible bias in construct validity of the K-ABC for each group. (Author/LMO)

Discusses the possible limitations and the advantages of computer-assisted language testing and several test variables which are of concern in determining test validity. The concept of computer-adaptive testing and its relationship to these variables is described. (SED)

A study that addressed the question of whether coaching for the MCAT biases the relationship between test performance and medical school performance is described. The criterion used was whether or not a student experienced academic problems in medical school. (MLW)