A study answered the question: are there significant differences in scores for two forms of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Third Edition? Subjects, 23 fifth graders, were given Forms K and L, Level 5/6, of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. The tests were administered by the regular classroom teacher in two testing sessions. Students were…

An evaluation was made of the effectiveness of an empirically derived five-item questionnaire, the Teacher's School Readiness Inventory (TSRI), in identifying at-risk or failure-prone preschool children. Screened with the TSRI in the spring of either the prekindergarten or kindergarten year, four samples totalling 453 children were followed…

This paper presents a new research instrument, The Lifetime Creativity Scales (LCS), along with validation evidence based on two large and independent samples. Views on creativity are discussed, the background of the LCS is reviewed, and the LCS are briefly described. The seven scales--three measuring peak creativity, three measuring extent of…

This large-scale field experiment examined the potential of various training and supervision programs to affect the performance of health survey interviewers and the quality of data they collect. It was found that interviewers who received less than one day of basic training generally displayed inadequate interviewing skills. A program of tape…

An investigation was made of the behavioral effects of caffeine in a sample of 313 newborns and their mothers. A weighted measure of caffeine based on daily ingestion of coffee, tea, and cola was derived from a maternal interview. The majority of mothers consumed the equivalent of about 1.3 cups of coffee per day. Infant outcome measures included…

A study examined the effectiveness of both the informal and standardized readiness measures in predicting the literacy development of both normal first grade subjects and high-risk, language-delayed primary children. Subjects, 60 first grade and 27 language-delayed children were given three informal literacy measures, the "Writing Vocabulary…

Indices were constructed to measure individual differences in the effects of the automated testing format and repeated testing on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) responses. Two types of instability measures were studied within a data set from the responses of 150 undergraduate students who took a computer-administered and…

In order to estimate the classical coefficient of test reliability, parallel measurements are needed. H. Gulliksen's matched random subtests method, which is a graphical method for splitting a test into parallel test halves, has practical relevance because it maximizes the alpha coefficient as a lower bound of the classical test reliability…

The purpose of this study was to: (1) assess the anticipated ratings of teacher performance by principals using the Missouri Performance Based Teacher Evaluation (PBTE) prior to the first cycle of its implementation; (2) determine whether or not elementary and secondary principals, using the same instrument, would be consistent in perceived…

While earlier, more blatant forms of sex discrimination may have declined, some researchers have suggested the existence of more subtle forms of bias, based less on gender than on gender-related attributes. The investigation of bias related to either gender or gender-related attributes requires a scale to address both the gender-relatedness of…

The overall poor quality of educational software on the market suggests that educators must continue efforts to evaluate available packages and to disseminate their findings. In this paper, weaknesses in published evaluation procedures are identified, and an alternative model, the York Educational Software Evaluation Scale (YESES), is described.…

The study examined psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Early Evaluation and Programming System (CEEPS), a criterion-referenced instrument designed for handicapped children birth to 3 years old. The instrument was intended to provide specific information to develop program objectives across a range of developmental areas and to assess…

The fundamental purposes of this study were to develop mastery tests in the cognitive and psychomotor domains for skin and scuba diving and to establish validity and reliability for the tests. A table of specifications was developed for each domain, and a pilot study refined the initial test batteries into their final form. In the main study,…

Many studies which have investigated the differences between decided and undecided subjects have assumed homogeneity of both subsets, but results of these studies do not justify such a assumption. This study attempted to identify, multidimensionally, types of vocationally undecided college students. Data on 11 variables from 276 undecided…

Noting that improvement in rater reliability means eliminating differences among raters, this paper discusses ways to assess writing evaluator reliability and methods for achieving higher levels of interrater reliability. After showing that reliability can be improved two ways--by increasing the number of raters or measurements made, and by…