A two-stage testing strategy is one method of adapting the difficulty of a test to an individual's ability level in an effort to achieve more precise measurement. A routing test provides an initial estimate of ability level, and a second-stage measurement test then evaluates the examinee further. The measurement accuracy and efficiency of item…

The response rates of university graduates and the cost per return were studied for a 20-item questionnaire presented in 3 formats as follows: (1) a 2-page questionnaire with an accompanying self-addressed stamped envelope; (2) a condensed format with smaller type, on 1 page, with a self-addressed stamped envelope; and (3) the single-page…

This paper explores the effect of reviewing items and altering responses on the efficiency of computer adaptive tests (CATs) and the resultant ability measures of examinees. Subjects included 712 medical students: 220 subjects were randomly assigned to the review condition; 492 were randomly assigned to a review control condition (the usual CAT…

This paper compares the response rates of university graduates on the following three formats of a questionnaire: (1) a two-page questionnaire that is to be returned with an accompanying self-addressed stamped envelope; (2) a format using smaller type and condensed format to present the questionnaire items on a single page that is to be returned…

The concurrent validity and discriminant validity of 3 widely used measures of psychological functioning were evaluated using a large, heterogeneous sample of 188 male and 337 female adult community residents (aged 16-66 years) seeking counseling services at a midwestern university training clinic. Validity was assessed as the relationship between…

This report summarizes the results of a study of the achievement of Illinois high school juniors in 1970 and 1981. The purposes were to provide a comparison of student performance over a period of time and to identify educational, social, and personal conditions that relate to performance on a test of Natural Science, Social Studies, English and…

The knowledge that 17-year-old students in a local city school district had of literature and history was assessed using the same test items administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). A review of national results of the NAEP examination in 1986 has highlighted the gaps in knowledge of this age group. The Austin (Texas)…

The Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) and the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) were examined as predictors of student classroom performance as measured by three instruments from the "Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments" (TPAIs) of W. Capie et al. (1979). Subjects were 305 teacher education students taking the student teaching…

Results of a minimum competency test administered to ninth-grade students were evaluated to compare the performance of 723 students (345 males, 347 females, and 31 unidentified students) on content-specific and process skill questions. Subjects represented a random sample of students taking the Regents Competency Test in Science--a 70-item…

Validation and cross-validation studies were conducted using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) to predict job performance for 698 urban male police officers who completed a six-month training academy. Job performance criteria evaluated included absence, lateness, derelictions, negative…

To determine the most accurate group-administered measure of reading achievement, a study explored variations of the cloze and maze procedures with second grade students who were native English speakers or who were being taught English as a second language. Subjects--108 second grade volunteers (1% American Indian, 49% Asian, 39.8% Black, 1%…

A study investigated correlations between students' and parents' attitudes toward the Hebrew language, students' attitudes and achievement in Hebrew, attitude differences in boys and girls, and attitude differences of students in the third and fourth years of Hebrew study. Parents and students in four Chicago-area supplementary Hebrew schools were…

This paper reports on a short version of the Student Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), a multiple choice questionnaire that measures Type A "coronary-prone" behavior in assessing subjects' A/B types. The primary objective was to determine if the short and long forms of the student JAS represent similar measurement instruments. A secondary…

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…

The predictive validities of (1) a test of divergent thinking, (2) an experimental measure of creative performance, and (3) an inventory of creative personality characteristics were compared by correlating scores on each measure for 19 fifth graders with scores on the ACT Interest Inventory one year later. It was expected that each of the three…