Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA; LISREL) was used to: (1) validate the Self Description Questionnaire III (SDQ III) subscales measuring general, school, English, and mathematics self-concepts for a sample of 898 (285 low track and 613 high track) students in grades 11 and 12, and (2) test the equivalency of the factor structure across academic…

This document provides a discussion of the scrutiny for bias and unfairness that standardized tests have come under by persons involved in the construction, administration, use, and interpretation of test results. After this discussion six simulation exercises are provided. In these exercises a situation is described involving the use of test…

A review of the implications for the validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) of scientific developments accompanying the revival of cognitive psychology provides insights into the importance of such changes. A distinction can be made between a process-oriented or diagnostic test and an outcomes-oriented test such as the SAT. Since the SAT…

In this paper four classes of procedures for measuring the instructional sensitivity of reading comprehension test items are reviewed. True experimental designs are not recommended because some of the most important reading comprehension variables do not lend themselves to experimental manipulation. "Ex post facto" factorial designs are…

The purpose for which a test is used and the examinees' stage of learning are two anchor points that are incorporated into a suggested framework for conducting construct validation studies for tests of students with English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL). The framework includes the use of generalizability theory,…

The Tailored Response Test (TRT) is an approach to assessment that presents information or real-life situations and assesses how the respondent interprets and handles information or situations. Respondents (N=127) were asked to respond to 12 test segments by editing a printed passage or other material following a video presentation of a situation…

The report describes the development and field testing of the Early Social-Communication Scales (ESCS), a measure intended to reflect developmental dimensions of the at-risk infant's and toddler's adaptive interactions. The ESCS was designed to assess three major communicative functions (social interaction, joint attention, and behavior…

Findings are presented from a study designed to develop a physical education criterion reference test (CRT) and to devise norms for intellectually normal, educable mentally impaired, and trainable mentally impaired students (3-12 years old). The lack of valid and reliable CRT batteries for meeting the physical education needs of handicapped…

An urban school district affected by testing in the effective schools context is described in order to provide examples of the effects of testing on teaching and the curriculum. The report describes the method of operationalizing the effective schools research using test information. An important catalyst to improving the instructional program was…

A study identified the variables affecting the vocational choice of college women. During the research project, a 97-item instrument entitled the Work Interest Questionnaire (WIQ) was developed and administered to 437 undergraduate female students enrolled at a large Midwestern university. The subjects were selected based on their varying fields…

The School Subjects Attitude Scales is an instrument for measuring students' attitudes toward school subjects for grades 5-12. Twenty-four bipolar word pairs are used with evaluation, usefulness, and difficulty scales. The word pairs were selected on the basis of discussions and analysis of trial forms. Results can be used in program evaluation…

Development of the College Descriptive Index (CDI; Form C) is reported. The CDI is an adjective check list that measures eight dimensions of students' satisfaction with college. The instrument was completed by 601 students at four colleges providing information on satisfaction in each of the eight areas. Scoring procedures and a copy of the…

Scales constructed under procedures and criteria outlined by the various traditional and latent trait methods were examined as to whether they varied in characteristics related to scale quality. Scales were constructed from a common pool of items analyzed in full form according to Likert and a one-parameter Rasch model for non-dichotomous data.…

The concept of "curriculum alignment" is based on the principle that, if instructional accomplishments are to be reliably obtained, three things must line up: instructional objectives, testing systems, and classroom instruction. The task of aligning a curriculum is described as requiring four attitudinal approaches: (1) Teachers and…

Since fall 1983, each student intending to enroll in an English course at American River College (ARC) has been required to take a placement test consisting of the vocabulary and usage subtests of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills of the College Board. A study was conducted to establish the predictive capability of the test by correlating…