A study involving 512 staff serving individuals with mental retardation investigated the validity of the 33-item Staff Stressor Questionnaire (SSQ). The SSQ measures potential stressors, including user challenging behavior, poor user skills, lack of staff support, lack of resources, low-status job, bureaucracy, and work/home conflict. Results show…

Instruments were developed to test the following elements of Cervero's model of continuing professional-education effectiveness in achieving behavior change: motivation, social system, perceptions of the nature of change, and satisfaction with continuing professional education. Four studies and an expert panel confirmed the validity and…

Studied the psychometric characteristics of a developmental assessment in mathematics composed of 19 performance tasks for students in grades K-3. Reports convergent validity coefficients, internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and task orderings. (SLD)

TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) is the largest, most ambitious study of comparative education ever attempted. Despite the TIMSS Subject Matter Advisory Committee's best efforts, not all test items truly reflect student math and science achievement. Some items have more than one correct response; some are not grounded in…

Discussion of computer literacy and the rapidly changing face of technology focuses on a study that redefined computer literacy to include competencies for using graphical user interfaces for operating systems, hypermedia applications, and the Internet. Describes the development and testing of the Computer Interface Literacy Measure with…

Projective methods were used to explore maternal perception and interpretation of infant's emotional expressions during the third trimester of pregnancy and 3 months postpartum. Results revealed that mothers interpreted infant emotions overwhelmingly in positive terms at both times; findings suggest consistency in maternal interpretation across…

Masters level rehabilitation counseling students (n=57), college students with disabilities (n=62), and small business employers (n=83) were participants in a study that assessed attitudes toward the American Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I. Students with disabilities held the most favorable attitudes, rehabilitation counseling students' attitudes…

Critically examines arguments that downgrade the importance of test reliability in English language proficiency testing of international students who attend British universities. Urges universities to move quickly to adopt an appropriate multiple- judgement approach to English language proficiency assessment and identifies alternative sources of…

Evaluates the Role Repertory Grid Procedure, a technique derived from personal construct theory, for its practicality and validity as a way of gathering patron perceptions about the effectiveness and efficiency of academic library space. Concludes that further research regarding validity and reliability is needed. (Author/LRW)

Reports the multistage development of the Community Service Attitudes Scale, an instrument for measuring college students' attitudes toward community service. Analysis of scores for samples of 437 and 332 students yields strong reliability evidence, and principal components analysis supports the helping behavior model of S. Schwartz. (SLD)

Examines the reliability and validity of the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Junior (SIQ-JR) as an instrument for identifying and assessing current suicidal ideation in a sample of 91 children and adolescents. Psychometric results showed that the internal consistency reliability coefficient and the test-retest reliability coefficient of the SIQ-JR…

Describes the development and validation of the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Sexist/Nonsexist Language (IASNL), which was based on a conceptual framework related to beliefs about language, recognition of sexist language, and willingness to use inclusive language. Results from four studies indicated that the IASNL was valid and reliable. Two short…

A self-report measure, the Coping with Health Injuries and Problems Scale (CHIP), was developed to identify basic coping dimensions for responding to health problems. The CHIP factor structure, established with samples of 532 adults and 598 adults in Canada, is cross-validated with 390 general medical patients and 286 chronic back pain patients.…

The Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire, an assessment of attachment characteristics in adolescents, was developed and validated with a normative sample of 691 adolescents and 133 adolescents in psychiatric treatment. Internal reliability and agreement for the 91 sample members who completed the scale twice were adequate. (SLD)

This paper reviews the reliability of picture identification tools for assessing preschool children in previous studies; provides recommendations for assessing the health knowledge of preschool children; and suggests ways that health knowledge data can be used appropriately in early childhood education programs. (SM)