Techniques for quantifying the degree of fit between test items and curricula are classified according to the purposes of assessing: overall fit, fit of individual items to content domain, and the impact of test specifications on performance. Procedures for calculating each index and their properties are included. (SLD)

This article discusses the main purposes of reading comprehension assessment and identifies the key features of good assessment. The article also identifies pitfalls that clinicians and educators should avoid to conduct valid assessments of reading comprehension, such as the degree to which the measure taps the constructive and integrative…

Introduction: The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the regulatory authority for physicians in Ontario, Canada, conducts peer assessments of physicians' practices as part of a broad quality assurance program. Outcomes are summarized as a single score and there is no differentiation between performance in various aspects of care. In…

Educational tests used for accountability purposes must represent the content domains they purport to measure. When such tests are used to monitor progress over time, the consistency of the test content across years is important for ensuring that observed changes in test scores are due to student achievement rather than to changes in what the test…

This article describes the development and revision of the Ethical Decision-Making Scale. Construct and content validity are reported. In addition, the results of a test-retest and a principal component factor analysis are provided. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

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…

The Survey of Testing Practices was administered to 470 undergraduate students at Pepperdine University and the Univesity of California Los Angeles. The items concerned testing practices in three or four classes taken the previous term: type of test, test administration, class size, procedures for returning tests, test difficulty, and observed…

A model and method for developing a valid and reliable paper-and-pencil test for evaluating the technical knowledge of baseball coaches in the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) in Canada are discussed. Development of a general theoretical and operational model for the evaluation of NCCP coaches in all sports are also studied. The…

The second edition of "Foundations of Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach" is a text for undergraduate students new to the field of psychological testing. Using a conversational format, the authors aim to prepare students to be informed consumers as test users or test takers. Features new to the second edition include: (1) New Content; (2)…

This paper compares two methods of establishing content validity, forced-choice judgmental review and a latent category judgmental review. It also compares content validity evidence with the results of a scale reliability analysis and makes recommendations of the two content validity procedures. Two different groups of graduate students enrolled…

To analyze perceptions of what constitutes a safe school. different perceptions of what constitutes a safe school, an assessment of the first 4 years of North Carolina's Annual Report on School Violence (ARSV) is reported here. The ARSV is a collection of data on specific acts of violence occurring on school property. Data on acts of violence were…

This study used the Assessment Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to evaluate the appropriateness and adequacy of selected standardized tests of mathematics achievement as they pertain to students with disabilities. Problems with content validity included inadequate representation of content domains, inappropriate…

Implications of court interpretations of job analysis as a basis for testing are assessed for teacher certification tests. Cases reviewed address the 1978 "Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures," the fourteenth amendment, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and content validity issues. (TJH)

Examined the possibility that individuals may confound measures of temperament and behavior problems because of the conceptual overlap between the measures. The psychologists involved in the study considered temperament items to be better measures of temperament than of behavior problems. (Author/BB)

Computers are used to manage assessment information for special education students and to administer, score, and interpret tests. Although the content validity of computer-administered assessment instruments may have certain practical limitations, several useful advantages can be gained by using computer-administered tests, including real-time…