Examines changing population demographics in the United States, including shifting student demographic projections, and discusses student-testing issues resulting from these changes. The article reviews the historical context of testing ethnic students, testing special-education students, regulatory issues surrounding the testing of ethnic pupils,…

A measure for school principal perceived burnout was developed and validated through responses of 821 Israeli principals. Under factor analysis, three factors emerged: (1) emotional, physical, and cognitive exhaustion; (2) aloofness; and (3) deprecation of teachers, students, and parents. (SLD)

The Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire is introduced as a measure of emotional expressiveness. Four studies involving 499 mothers and 362 fathers provided evidence of good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity for the instrument and a preliminary short form. Factor analyses support a two-factor solution across the studies.…

The Parent Perception Inventory (PPI), used to measure children's perceptions of parental behavior, was administered to children in 12 physically abusive families, 15 child problem behavior families, and 16 nondistressed families. All families were single parent, mother-headed, and impoverished. Data from the present sample were compared with data…

The role of assessment in science education is explored, focusing on summative assessment in British public certificate examinations. Examples of test items are presented to illustrate difficulties in making valid and reliable assessments, and issues with implications for formative assessment are discussed. (SLD)

The use of a performance-based assessment of senior medical students' clinical skills utilizing standardized patients was evaluated, with 6,804 student-patient encounters involving 405 students over 6 years. Results provide evidence for test security, content validity, construct validity, reliability, and test ability to discriminate a wide range…

A total of 102 university English majors were administered 4 different language tests to form a General Language Proficiency measure against which the C-test was evaluated. Results confirmed its reliability and validity and also provided data on text difficulty/appropriateness, word structure, content, and different scoring methods. (13…

Mother and peer assessments of preschoolers' behavior were compared to teachers' responses on a preschool behavior questionnaire with three components. The disruptive component was highly correlated with peer assessments, and moderately correlated with mother assessments; the prosocial and anxious components were moderately correlated with mother…

Whether the external validity of the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) was moderated by age, sex, or race was studied using 1,333 children and adolescents referred for mental health services. Race and sex generally did not moderate the relation of PIC scales to symptom checklists. Some relationships were age modified. (SLD)

Normative data for the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised were derived empirically using a sample of 50 volunteers between 25 and 34 years of age, who matched U.S. Census data on demographic characteristics. Differences between these empirical norms and published norms that were estimated statistically appear clinically significant. (SLD)

The Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults (TCB) measures employment and independent living skills. The TCB was standardized on students (N from 180 to 230 for the different subtests) from both mainstreamed and residential settings. Item statistics and subtest reliabilities were adequate; evidence of construct validity…

Teacher ratings on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist were collected on 666 students with mental retardation attending special classes. Classroom placement and age had significant effects on subscale scores, whereas sex failed to affect ratings. The study concludes that the original scoring method, developed for individuals in residential facilities,…

Examined 6 widely used grade-8 standardized tests for content, required processes, and level to determine their alignment with the 5-8 NCTM "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards." Concluded that these tests inadequately covered the 5-8 standards. A follow-up study examined items from newly developed and foreign tests to demonstrate the…

A study evaluated the feasibility of an objective structured clinical examination to assess the competence of foreign medical school graduates, clinical clerks, and interns to address clinical ethical situations. The University of Toronto's experience with the measure found it useful but in need of improvement. (MSE)

High-stakes state-mandated testing programs are discussed, illustrating that proposed educational innovations are adopted because of their power as symbols of value orientations in the wider culture. In such programs, tests represent order and control, focus on important outcomes, and symbolize basic moral values. (SLD)