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…

In October 1981, the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Program introduced a new version of the General Test (GT) that differed from the previous version in three major ways. The GT was altered to: reduce the verbal measure's speededness and allow the addition of several quantitative items; delete two item types from the analytical measure; and…

A methodology for investigating the influence of correction-for-guessing directions and formula scoring on test performance was studied. Experts in the test content field used a judgmental item appraisal system to estimate the knowledge of the minimally competent candidate (MCC) and to predict those items that the MCC would omit on the test under…

This study investigated the relationships among the symbolic representation of problems given to students to solve, the mental representations they use to solve the problems, and the accuracy of their solutions. Twenty eleventh-grade science students were asked to think aloud as they solved problems on the ideal gas laws. The problems were…

This report provides a comparative cost analysis of three different methods of developing final examinations for secondary schools in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland. Based on expenditure reports and interviews with central and school-based staff, cost estimates were developed for three kinds of exams: (1) the county-wide final…

Self-report ergometric inventories can provide valuable information to employers and can serve as a means of intervention to improve employee attributes. Based on the science of ergonomics (a science that studies the natural laws of work in order to maximize human efficiency in job performance), such an inventory focuses on the interaction of the…

This is one of a series of reports which provide definitions of and descriptive data on the variables used in the Comparative Study of Phase IV of the Individually Guided Education (IEG) Evaluation Project. Phase IV investigated three curriculum programs specifically designed to be compatible with instructional programming for the individual…

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…

This report describes the development of a needs assessment instrument designed to identify competencies necessary for vocational educators to successfully teach and work with disadvantaged students. The first part of the report summarizes a review of literature. Eleven studies are presented and referenced for further study. The second part of the…

The research leading to the decisions to revise the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test (GRE) (beginning in October 1981) is reviewed. The issues discussed include the format of the test (the timing of each section and the number of sections, the content of the sections--especially the analytical section), the scoring procedure for the GRE,…

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…

The Science Curriculum and Assessment Project is a multi-state network of school districts and other educational agencies that actively promotes science improvement through the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This document describes the major areas of project work, specifications and review procedures for test items in the…

Since 1969 when it was mandated by Congress, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has gathered information about the performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students in many subject areas, but most frequently in reading. Designed to reflect current developments in reading theory and research, this booklet describes the objectives…

In its three parts, this presentation: (1) describes five aspects of James Coleman's concept of "social capital"; (2) describes how the concept of social capital was used to develop a questionnaire for assessing teachers' investment of emotional self (personality, warmth, enthusiasm, etc.) in caregiving; and (3) provides related…

A study examined oral and silent reading rates at various levels of difficulty to establish criterion rates for fluent reading at the fourth grade level. Subjects, 27 male and 45 female students from 6 classes in 3 public schools in central Oklahoma who read at an average of more than one year above grade placement, had their oral and silent…