This study investigated the relationship of standardized test scores and locally developed test scores to course placement and academic success in a developmental program. The sample consisted of 281 students who matriculated in the Division of Developmental Studies at a southern university. Eligible students for enrollment in Developmental…

The paper presents data about applying the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale (CSCS) to an Australian population. Data were obtained from 402 randomly selected male and female, primary and secondary school students, representing all school systems (195 from Grades 3 and 4, 207 from Grades 10 and 11). Anaylsis conducted on the two age…

This paper reports on Educational Testing Service research studies investigating the parameters critical to reliability and validity in both the direct and indirect writing ability assessment of higher education applicants. The studies involved: (1) formulating an operational definition of writing competence; (2) designing and pretesting writing…

In order to look for evidence of possible racial bias in six of the Navy tests for the Enlisted Advancement System, statistical data for a group of black personnel were compared with data for a selected matching group of whites. The first step was to compute item difficulty indices (the percent passing each item) for the black group, for the…

Cooperative testing is a rather specific and practical aspect of validity generalization or test transportability. It refers to two or more units of government combining their testing and/or recruiting efforts. The Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 (P.L. 1-648) made specific provision for cooperative examining in stating that the Civil…

This paper discusses the role of intelligence in language comprehension. In the study reported, an attempt is made to determine how much of the variability in English reading scores of non-native speakers of English can be predicted on the basis of intelligence alone. In the study, three measures of reading comprehension are used: a traditional…

A major concern for those in higher education is whether the instruments they use for screening students are valid and predictive. Of particular interest is whether a grammar test, used in many institutions to screen students for developmental English, and a reading comprehension test, used to screen students for developmental reading, truly…

A project was conducted to (1) produce normative data for the Literacy Assessment Battery (LAB) and (2) evaluate the LAB as a potential supplement to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for use as a selection and classification instrument for the military services. The distribution of auding and reading skills in the population…

This study looked at conceptions of effective high schools held by high school principals, central office staff members, and representatives of the state department of education in Delaware. Data were collected through personal interviews and analyzed through "phenomenological content analysis." Four very different images of…

A study was conducted (1) to analyze the Educational Participation Scale (EPS) factor patterns derived from a sample of senior citizens in order to contribute additional reliability and validity data to the instrument; and (2) to look at reasons that have influenced senior citizens to pursue educational activities, specifically the Elderhostel…

Educational achievement tests, career interest inventories, and aptitude tests are reviewed for examples of sex bias, and changes in policy concerning the use of these tests are suggested. These suggestions are within the authority and responsibility of local and state educational administrators, teachers, counselors, parents, and students. The…

Educational Progress in Careers (EPIC), Inc., was organized (1) to develop and validate a system for evaluating career, economic, and community education projects in Florida schools and to assist educators and school district administrators in assessing the status of career, economic, and community education programs; (2) to develop valid data…

The technology of transforming sentences from prose instruction into test questions was examined by comparing two methods of selecting sentences (keyword vs. rare singleton), two types of question words (nouns vs. adjectives), and two foil construction methods (writer's choice vs. algorithmic). Four item writers created items using each…

To explain the discrepancy between median scores on the 1976 administration of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) and the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), ten technical variables typical of achievement tests were considered as explanations. (1) The STEP may measure different…

Eighteen studies on the validity of tests of English as a foreign language (EFL) for college admission and placement decisions are briefly summarized. No studies were found on the extent to which these tests reflect language skills, curriculum (content validity), or theory or behavior (construct validity). Instead, all of these studies…