A study examined the extent to which a 19-item short form of the Speech Evaluation Instrument (SEI) is a reliable instrument, what factor structure emerges from the analysis, and how that factor structure compares to that reported for the 30-item long form of the SEI. Subjects, 606 undergraduates enrolled in speech communications classes at two…

The ability of individuals to make accurate judgments about others is examined and literature on this subject is reviewed. A wide variety of situational factors affects the appraisal of performance. It is generally accepted that the purpose of the appraisal influences the accuracy of the appraiser. The instrumentation, or tools, available to the…

Many empirical studies have examined factors that influence ratings of performance. This study examined the rating variable performance of a single individual. Serial position of a single poor or good performance in a series of otherwise good or poor performances was manipulated to examine its effects on both ratings and recommended actions toward…

The state of the "Standards for Evaluation of Educational Programs, Projects, and Materials" is discussed. The standards were designed by a 17-member Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation to insure an ethical approach to the evaluation of educational programs and personnel. There are four major categories of standards.…

Standardized reading tests and associated issues involved in the teaching of reading skills are discussed, with illustrative examples of reading tests commonly used in Australia. The nature of standardized reading tests is analyzed, and the circumstances under which such tests should be used are outlined. Interpretation of scores from standardized…

Three measures of person-fit (the extent to which an examinee's response pattern on a multiple-choice test is consistent with his ability as estimated by total score) were computed for students taking classroom tests under 12 different instructors at a comprehensive university. Supplementary questions on each test inquired concerning students'…

The Racialistic Incidents Inventory (RII) was developed to measure individual awareness of eight types of racialistic incidents. Racialistic incidents were defined as situations in which behaviors or attitudes are directed toward a particular racial/ethnic group; these may reflect racist or nonracist attitudes. The typology of incidents was…

The Classification of Secondary School Courses (CSSC) is a coding activity to translate the diverse course titles which appear on transcripts and master schedules of students into common terms, permitting meaningful comparisons to be made about these students and allowing secondary school coursework to be considered as a coherent factor in…

Of the 15 substantive papers in this report, 12 focus on the use of the Kent Infant Development (KID) Scale with severely handicapped children. The KID Scale measures 252 behaviors usually developed during the first year of life in five domains (cognitive, motor, language, self-help, and social). It was successfully adapted to elicit reliable…

This paper examines the metatheoretical concepts associated with ethnographic/qualitative educational inquiry and overviews the more commonly utilized research designs, data collection methods, and analytical approaches. The epistemological and ontological assumptions of this newer approach differ greatly from those of the traditional educational…

This article discusses practical and theoretical problems related to the measurement of formal operations. The first section of the article discusses problems in measuring formal operations using the clinical interview method. These problems include the lack of both a standardized interview and a uniform scoring procedure. Section two discusses…

Test wiseness was examined with respect to grade differences, grade by sex interaction, and stability. Stem-options, similar-options, and specific-determiners were included. Results indicated significant increases on test wiseness in four of five cases, no sex by grade interaction, and test wiseness as a stable characteristic over the grade levels…

Kapes and Sievert's (1973) research on the difference between wooden and plastic peg boards for the GATB is replicated. The results indicate that individuals tested on the wooden equipment perform significantly higher than those tested on the plastic equipment. (Author/PC)

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive validity of the Ramak--a vocational interest inventory based on Roe's (1956) classification of occupations. In this follow-up, 81 percent of the original sample, tested 7 years earlier, was located. The effectiveness of the Ramak in vocational counseling is evaluated. (Author)