A study examined whether the process of gathering verbal reports of subjects' thinking while taking multiple-choice critical thinking tests could be used to infer the reasoning process used and identify test items which do not require critical thinking skills. Four factors can render an inference of a subject's critical thinking skills…

The validity of the Secondary School Improvement Program Effective Schools Survey (SSIPESS) was studied, which is based on the Santa Clara County School Effectiveness Program. The SSIPESS, designed for the secondary school level, is an 85-item survey designed for teachers; and it varies from a three- to five-point scale, with eight underlying…

Information necessary for informed use by practitioners of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) tests is presented. Assessment instruments that (1) have as a basic assumption that thinking skills can be taught; (2) provide information that can be useful for instructional planning related to complex thought processes; and (3) have content that is…

This study assessed level and structure differences across sex and ethnic groups on a newly developed multiple aptitude battery, called the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), and established and examined the concurrent and differential validities of the battery relative to different groups. The 17 Ball ability variables are: clerical test; idea fluency;…

This report describes a diagnostic instrument designed for school districts to use in assessing the training needs of bilingual staff. The construction and trial administration of the instrument involved several stages. Among these were the development of a pool of subscaled questions, questionnaire forms, and a pool of instrument questions. The…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to determine the comparability of the two tests used in Florida to assess students' entry-level skills, the Florida Multiple Assessment Programs and Services (MAPS) battery and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The study also sought to determine the effect of altering SAT cutoff scores…

One of the most widely used instruments for assessing concerns has been the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) developed by the Concerns Based Adoption Model Project. In this research, different aspects of the validity of a modified version of the SoCQ produced for use with preservice teachers (PSSoCQ) are examined. In all, 10 different…

To supplement previous reliability and validity studies concerning the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), new NCQ items were written and assessed in relation to the original eight NCQ scales. The NCQ measures eight non-traditional or non-cognitive variables that relate to minority student retention--positive self-concept, realistic self-appraisal,…

This study was conducted to: (1) determine the validity of five Educational Testing Service (ETS) tests as measures of the knowledge and academic skills required for specific endorsements of professional public school personnel in Arkansas; and (2) formulate recommendations on minimum qualifying scores for tests that are valid to use for…

The instrument designed by Patricia Kearney to measure communication style was chosen for a study of validity and reliability for three reasons: (1) the format of the instrument appeared to be more descriptive than evaluative, (2) its theoretical foundations encouraged the viewpoint that there is no one best communication style, and (3) it was…

This booklet provides information about the Juvenile Counselor Examination developed as part of the evaluation procedures for juvenile counselor candidates in the Standards and Training for Corrections program in California. The four sections of the booklet (1) review the nature and purpose of cutoff scores in general; (2) recommend and justify a…

Because of the high rate of failure of engineering students in a required engineering physics course at the University of Texas at Austin, College Board Achievement Test (CBAT) scores in Mathematics Level 1 for 537 students enrolled in the course were compared with their physics grades. Performance on the mathematics section of the Scholastic…

As a response to the artificiality of the traditional reading comprehension test, this booklet provides alternative means of testing that are within the guidelines of the British National Criteria. Ideas for testing informative, persuasive, autobiographical, and literary materials are presented in the booklet--carefully chosen to provide material…

Six studies are presented which investigate factors in implementing the Revolving Door Identification Model (RDIM) and the Enrichment Triad Model in gifted education for children in grades 1-8. In "An Analysis of the Productivity of Gifted Students Participating in Programs Using the Revolving Door Identification Model," S. Reis reports,…

This report describes a large scale research effort to validate and improve the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) aptitude area (AA) composites now used by the Army to select and classify enlisted personnel. Data were collected from existing Army sources on over 60,000 soldiers and over 60 Military Occupational Specialties (MOS).…