Confirmatory factor analysis is presented as providing appropriate techniques for the analysis and evaluation of questionnaires and tests if the content of the measure can be identified as consisting of groups of items, with each group measuring only a single trait. This approach is contrasted with latent trait theory which assumes (and does not…

This paper presents a study focusing on the use of class time by minority students in junior high school science classrooms. An instrument was developed to assess classroom behaviors and the interactions of students, which was used to obtain information about classroom behaviors that might affect minority student outcomes in science. Students from…

The purpose of the investigation was to obtain some relationships among (1) test lengths, (2) shape of domain-score distributions, (3) advancement scores, and (4) several criterion-referenced test score reliability and validity indices. The study was conducted using computer simulation methods. The values of variables under study were set to be…

The paper describes development of the Brockton Battery: A Special Needs Assessment for Minority Students, a collection of four independent instruments designed for special education assessment of minority students. Initial sections review demographic information on the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, and on special education in the city.…

A five-year study was undertaken to develop criterion rating scales for predicting successful performance in graduate business study, as well as in later career progress. The scales embodied dimensions, other than grades, which were judged by a nationwide panel of faculty to be relevant to performance. The scales were defined and anchored by…

A three-year research effort was conducted to design a crime laboratory proficiency testing program encompassing the United States. The objectives were to: (1) determine the feasibility of preparation and distribution of different classes of physical evidence; (2) assess the accuracy of criminalistics laboratories in the processing of selected…

The Arizona Course Instructor Evaluation Questionnaire (CIEQ) was designed to assist individual instructors in improving teaching methods and courses. Secondary uses include faculty evaluation, research, and course and instructor selection by students. Successive refinements of the original pool of 1,000 items by factor analysis and subjective…

An information processing approach was applied to the development and validation of a test battery intended for personnel selection, classification, and guidance; and design of training programs. The approach specifies that tests should measure specific cognitive processes and basic abilities, rather than prior experience. Tests should be short,…

Latent trait theory is used as a basis for a definition of item bias, and an experiment is described in which a test of vocabulary items was not found to be biased when administered to two groups of high school students, one group of 58 black students and the other 168 white students. The experiment for the detection of bias began with separate…

The Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test was designed to measure the attitudes and knowledge of retarded individuals in fourteen areas: (1) anatomy/terminology; (2) dating; (3) marriage; (4) intimacy; (5) intercourse; (6) pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing; (8) masturbation; (9) homosexuality; (10) alcohol and drugs; (11) community risks…

This state of the art review discusses approaches to the measurement of theological concepts, and briefly describes the purpose and limitations of selected tests in the following areas: religious knowledge (mainly biblical knowledge); theological belief; religiosity--observable religious activity; religious experience--mystical experience; and…

Differences among test item writers and among different rules for writing multiple choice items were investigated. Items testing comprehension of a prose passage were varied according to five factors: (1) information density of the passage; (2) item writer; (3) deletion of nouns, as opposed to adjectives, from the sentence in order to construct…

The D-48 and D-70 (Dominoes) Tests, which are parallel forms of a non-verbal, cross-cultural test, were administered to 82 college students and 112 high school freshmen. Criterion scores were obtained on the Otis Quick Score and grade point average for the college students, and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills for the ninth-graders. Results showed a…

The Mathematics Achievement Test Project (MATP) was set up by the Learning Assessment Branch of the Ministry of Education of British Columbia to develop testing materials to assist teachers throughout the province in the task of evaluating students' performance in mathematics. The two major objectives of the project were to construct "banks" of…

The hypothesis that negative emotional life states accompanying life stresses are associated with overeating and weight gain cannot be adequately tested solely by laboratory analogue studies. Naturalistic, short-term longitudinal designs are needed in which individuals susceptible to mood eating can be identified prior to a stressful event and…