This project examined some of the common constraints on reliable cognitive assessment for children over time. Repeated measures design (n = 133) was with younger (5 & 6 year old, n = 64) and older (7 & 8 year old, n = 69) children. Results showed that children's self-concepts moderated the test-retest reliability over extended intervals…

The reliability of the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) has not been reported since ACTFL revised its speaking proficiency guidelines in 1999. Reliability data for assessments should be reported periodically to provide users with enough information to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the assessment. This study provided the most…

The aim of this study is to explore creativity in Spanish children during their early years and to explore differences regarding gender and age. We have used a sample of 285 children between five and seven years old. To measure their creativity we used the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). We have used the test of figured expression that…

The Math Essential Skills Screener--Upper Elementary Version (MESS-U) is part of a series of screening tests designed to help identify students ages 9-11 who are at risk for mathematics failure. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, item analysis, decision efficiency, convergent validity and factorial validity of the MESS-U were studied…

A multitask speaking measure consisting of both integrated and independent tasks is expected to be an important component of a new version of the TOEFL test. This study considered two critical issues concerning score dependability of the new speaking measure: How much would the score dependability be impacted by (1) combining scores on different…

The curriculum innovations in chemistry are often designed to address the important goals of improving student understanding and attitude, with assessment to determine the effects of these innovations. These analyses are psychometrically weak for several reasons, one reason being that the ability to look for the changes over time or for…

This dissertation study examined the reliability and validity claims of a modified version of the Spanish Modern Language Association Foreign Language Proficiency Test for Teachers and Advanced Students administered at George Mason University (GMU). The study used the 1999 computerized GMU version that was administered to 277 test-takers via…

Background: This study describes the development of the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview (BCFPI)--a computer-assisted telephone interview which adapts the revised Ontario Child Health Study's (OCHS-R) parent, teacher, and youth self-report scales for administration as intake screening and treatment outcome measures in children's mental…

Research was conducted to evaluate how well the "Indiana Reading Assessment--Kindergarten" evaluates various reading skills of kindergarten students. Multiple analyses were conducted; while the results of all the analyses were encouraging, the results derived from the concurrent validity study were most significant. All correlations were…

Teacher quality has become a top priority of our national agenda. There is empirical evidence that suggests that teacher inputs have impact on student outcomes. It is also believed that teacher dispositions are as crucial for student achievement as a teacher's pedagogical and content knowledge/skills. The National Council for Accreditation of…

In the current study, the child AQ was administered in Japan, to examine whether the UK results for reliability and validity generalize to a different culture. Assessment groups were: Group 1: n = 81 children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA); Group 2: n = 22 children diagnosed PDD-NOS with average IQ; and Group 3: n =…

This article reports the development and initial validation of scores obtained from the Adolescent Concerns Measure (ACM), a scale which assesses concerns of Asian adolescent students. In Study 1, findings from exploratory factor analysis using 619 adolescents suggested a 24-item scale with four correlated factors--Family Concerns (9 items), Peer…

A common challenge facing immigrant families is intergenerational-intercultural conflict. Social workers are in need of an easy-to-use but psychometrically sound measure to assess this phenomenon and evaluate treatment effectiveness. The Intergenerational Congruence in Immigrant Families (ICIF) Scale was created for this purpose. The ICIF has two…

A study investigated possible causes of high percentages of students failing the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test (ONGPT) in mathematics. The validity of the math test may be questionable. The reading and math scores of over 200 ninth-grade students from a rural school in northwest Ohio were used as a basis. Only scores from the fall of 1991,…

Much speculation abounds concerning how expensive performance assessments are or are going to be. Recent projections indicate that, in order to achieve an acceptably high generalizability coefficient, many additional tasks may need to be added, which will enlarge costs. Such projections are, to some degree, correct, and to some degree simplistic.…