The usefulness of small-scale interview studies to explore the validity of science achievement tests in several formats was studied with 141 high school students and 49 fifth and sixth graders. Results, which provided evidence of test validity, also support the use of small-scale qualitative interviews in test validation. (SLD)

Calculated intra-cognitive strengths and weaknesses of children in grades 1 through 12, using two common criteria for defining exceptionality. Found that an individual's total number of significant intra-cognitive strengths and/or weaknesses has little diagnostic significance as pertains to low- or under-achievement in reading, mathematics, or…

Examines the construct validity of a scale for 7-year-old children and analyzes the degree of factorial similarity between this analysis and another study performed on 4-year-old children. Results indicate that the cognitive abilities measured by the scale become more general with age and the level of schooling. (RJM)

Compares the predictive and concurrent validities of a learning efficiency test with that of another test. Memory factor scores of the learning efficiency test correlated significantly with the other test's scores, with class grades, and with actual grade-level functioning in reading. The learning efficiency test's validity compares favorably to…

Tested an attachment model using 630 late adolescents. The resulting data fit the model reasonably well. The gender of parent differences emerged, in which attachment to father was a more important predictor of social competence than was attachment to mother. Social competence proved a significant predictor of emotional adjustment. (RJM)

A series of standardized tasks was developed using the same constructs as operationalized in a state's large-scale assessment program. Student performance (n=437) was then analyzed. In reading and math, teachers (n=131) were successfully trained to administer the tasks and judge performance, providing a system with instructional and evaluative…

This study reports on the standardization of the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. Data collected on 2,266 typical students (ages 5- 18) and 1,371 students with emotional disturbances led to the identification of six behavioral problem factors that correspond to the federal definition of emotional disturbance and were highly internally…

The study of 35 posttreatment stutterers found that magnitude estimation and interval scaling were both valid procedures for measuring speech naturalness. Speech of nonstutterers was judged more natural than speech of treated stutterers. The acoustic parameters most highly correlated with speech naturalness were voice onset time measure and…

Presents an annotated bibliography of recent ERIC documents on the effectiveness of screening and standardized testing at the early childhood level of education. (Author/BB)

Baruch College (New York) recently conducted a cohort study relating factors used in Masters in Business Administration admissions with first year grade point average in the program. Data from the fall 1986 entering cohort strongly supported the value of the Graduate Management Admission Test in predicting first year grades. (MLW)

Use of acoustic reflectometry was compared with tympanometry in middle ear screenings for 357 children, aged 5 months to 19 years. Results were analyzed according to sex, age, and sensorineural hearing status. Intratest reliability was highly significant and positive predictive accuracy and specificity rates were excellent, but sensitivity rates…

Reports on two studies designed to develop and evaluate the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Positive (ATQ-P), a measure of positive automatic thinking that is complementary to the ATQ, a measure of negative thinking in psychopathology. Describes results suggesting that ATQ-P is reliable and valid measure of positive thinking. (Author/NB)

Urban Canadian sixth-graders (n=84) were tested on 80 arithmetic word problems developed as part of a larger set to reflect individual differences in problem solving. Problems varied in complexity of language and amount of extraneous information present. Results indicated substantial internal consistency and concurrent validity relative to…

Studies processes in 49 Canadian K-13 classrooms to identify teachers' student achievement evaluation methods. Teacher interviews and categorization of their testing instruments showed teachers beyond early primary grades used evaluations mainly to generate marks for reporting purposes. Such reports seen as reaffirming existing judgments, rather…

Responds to Crowley's and Wilson's articles on the reliability of the van Hiele Geometry Test. Discusses the issue of the difficulty of trying to maximize content validity while minimizing measurement error. (YP)