A description of the status of foreign language instruction and testing in the context of the changing state of education. The content of Second Cycle French programs, a critique of French examinations and some samples of tests which point to change are discussed. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

In a comparison study, the receptive portion of the Screening Test of Spanish Grammar and the Spanish version of the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language were administered to 20 Spanish-speaking Mexican American children (4 to 6-years-old). (Author/IM)

Reviews the status of and beliefs underlying the process of foreign language oral proficiency testing in the United States, including consideration of academic and nonacademic approaches to testing; the status of foreign language study; the need for foreign language speakers; and the reliability and validity of several tests used to assess foreign…

Explored the reliability and validity for four self-report anxiety scales: the Test Anxiety Scale for Children, the Alpert-Haber Achievement Anxiety Scale for Children, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, and a newly developed Reading Anxiety Scale. Conclusions are drawn regarding the use of these scales with minority-group…

Construct validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised using 189 Black, 184 Hispanic, and 187 White 6- to 11-year-olds was investigated. A two-factor solution yielded similar loadings corresponding to verbal comprehension and perceptual organization for all three groups. Three-factor solutions yielded similar loadings for…

Assesses the measurement qualities of a computer-managed test of children's reading vocabulary, and the resultant representational patterns of vocabulary knowledge. Describes the test's administration, and its high reliability. Reveals that it shows that children of all ability levels know a range of very common to very rare words. (SKC)

Examined relationship between advocacy of humanistic and confluent educational teaching values and nine humanistic, confluent patterns of classroom interaction. Describes the development and initial validation of a behavioral instrument, the Humanistic-Confluent Interactional Analysis Category System, for examining daily classroom interactive…

Explores the relation of educational evaluation and quality, arguing that true educational improvement depends on public debate that regards evaluation and quality as indispensable partners. Reviews limitations of current achievement tests as accurate measures of student or teacher competency. Notes problems including subject matter restrictions,…

Investigates the reliability and validity of tests that have been used to operationalize the concept of phonemic awareness. Indicates that a combination of two tests, one related to each factor, has greater predictive validity for the beginning steps in reading acquisition than does one test alone. (JK)

Describes a conversation measure for evaluation communicative competence of deaf adolescents and adults in light of: 1) the rationale behind its development; 2) its independence of the subjects' language variety; and 3)its use in a study of 40 deaf adolescents. The interview protocal is give in the Appendix. (Author/LMO)

Questions the validity and reliability of the Reading/Everyday Activities in Life (R/EAL) test, which is intended as a self-administered, self-directed, and self-paced test of basic literacy for minority populations and others traditionally singled out by the bias of standardized reading achievement tests. (SRT)

Correlations between the Standard Progressive Matrices test (SPM) and the California Achievement Test, Reading, Language, and Mathematics Tests were examined for 99 Hispanic and 93 non-Hispanic Caucasian seventh-grade students. All correlations were highly significant. Supports continued use of the SPM as a measure of nonverbal intellectual…

Explains the use of the Dolch List in the lower elementary grades. (FL)

Analyzes the uses and abuses of the Gesell School Readiness Screening Tests and similar tests. First, discusses developmental screening and readiness tests, then focuses on the Gesell tests, specifically addressing their validity and questioning their current uses. Discusses implications of using readiness tests for assigning children to…

Construct validity was investigated for three tests of clinical competence in medicine: National Board of Medical Examiners examination (NBME), California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and Resident Evaluation Form (REF). Scores from 166 residents were analyzed. Results suggested low construct validity for CPI and REF scales, and moderate…