Checking of parametric assumptions is an often ignored step in the inferential process. A misconception regarding symmetry (one aspect of "robustness") is prevalent: that in nonsymmetric distributions the mean and median are always non-coincidental. It is to this fallacious point that the discussion is directed. A generally accepted index of…

Infant intelligence from birth until the age of two was measured to determine the usefulness of infant intelligence tests. Twenty infants were tested regularly over the two-year period. Results showed neither simplex nor other long-term patterns of interrelationship among the infant intelligence scores obtained. The study concludes that the…

A review of the socioeconomic status (SES) concept was conducted to determine whether an already established index could be used in Toronto's Study of Achievement of children from kindergarten through the elementary grades. The examination of the SES concept and the results of analyses concerning the applicability of the Blishen Socio-Economic…

The major part of this bulletin consists of two studies on the place of examinations in the school system. In a long paper (28 pages) on "New Techniques for Assessment of Pupils' Work," A.D.C. Peterson discusses: (1) efforts to improve reliability by the use of objective tests, improved marking procedures, and better standardization; (2)…

The present study was concerned with several currently unanswered questions, two of which are: what is an empirically determined ratio of multiple choice to equivalent true-false items which can be answered in a given amount of time?; and for achievement test items administered within a classroom situation, which of the two formats under…

New strategies for evaluation criterion referenced measures (CRM) are discussed. These strategies examine the following issues: (1) the use of normed referenced measures (NRM) as CRM and then estimating the reliability and validity of such measures in terms of variance from an arbitrarily specified criterion score, (2) estimation of the…

The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) may represent a breakthrough in the area of creativity research, since they provide a functional instrument for measuring creative potential in children, adolescents, and adults. However, there are certain technical problems with achieving interscorer reliability which may act as a deterrent to the…

The psychometric reliability of a factor, defined as its generalizability across samples drawn from the same population of tests, is considered as a necessary precondition for the scientific meaningfulness of factor analytic results. A solution to the problem of generalizability is illustrated empirically on data from a set of tests designed to…

In Dyer's Student Change Model, performance indicators (PIs) are utilized as a measure of the effectiveness of educational programs. These PIs are examined and analyzed in some detail in this paper. In particular, the reliability of the residuals, the sensitivity of the measure to sample size, the random half reliability, and the stability of the…

A factor analytic study is presented of the Learning Environment Inventory, an instrument originally designed to assess secondary students' perception of 15 school environment dimensions. Responses from 3,613 subjects were analyzed through principal components and varimax rotation procedures. In contrast to the expected structure, analyses…

Described is the development and revision over a 3-year period of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL), a screening test to identify pre-kindergarten children with learning disabilities. The DIAL is said to provide for gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, and communications assessment of large groups of children. Among…

Concommitant with changes in education, health care roles, and evaluation in recent years, a new six year combined B.S. and M.D. program was inititated at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Evaluation was integrated into the academic plan in order to assess student progress toward the overall goal of becoming a safe physician, as well as…

The Message Measurement Inventory was designed to determine the dimensions which listeners consider when they judge a message. This paper outlines the development of the inventory and describes some of the first studies using it. In addition, the paper discusses tests of the validity, reliability, and precision of the scales and scaling procedures…

The optimum weighting of variables to predict a dependent-criterion variable is an important problem in nearly all of the social and natural sciences. Although the predominant method, multiple regression analysis (MR), yields optimum weights for the sample at hand, these weights are not generally optimum in the population from which the sample was…