Due to concern for test security and fairness, three new performance-based English placement test writing prompts were developed in a large midwestern university for incoming students of English as a second language, and the degree of prompt variability was investigated from multiple perspectives, including "fit-to-specification,"…

The purpose of the present investigation was to address several critical issues relating to setting a performance standard on a nationally administered standardized patient examination (SPX). The specific goals of the study were to: (1) compare pass/fail rates from this exercise to those of past studies undertaken with the same examination; (2)…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

This study developed an instrument for the assessment of career-related barriers in a Chinese culture. A pilot version of the Chinese Career Barriers Inventory (CCBI) consisting of 95 items was tested with 403 college students in Taiwan. After item and factor analyses, the CCBI was reduced to 80 items comprising 12 scales. Reliability coefficients…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on management assessment. In "The Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) Selection System as a Predictor of Leadership" (Orlando V. Griego, George A. Morgan, Gary D. Geroy), 102 ROTC cadets rated their own leadership characteristics and were rated by subordinates; leaders and…

The predictive validity of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) assessment center evaluation process for principals is compared with the perceived effectiveness of a selected population of principals. The NASSP assessment center approach includes a case study, a personal interview, two exercises, and a scholastic…

In order to better evaluate bilingualism in deaf children, this study examined whether observers (N=37) from different backgrounds would agree on deaf children's use of either American Sign Language (ASL) or English signing. Observers represented a range of background experience in a variety of schools and programs; 6 were deaf; 31 were hearing;…

The reliability of the questionnaire, Students' Views of an Ideal Professor, was studied. Subjects were 86 students (35 males and 51 females) who were enrolled in psychology classes at a state university. Subjects included 34 freshmen, 27 sophomores, 20 juniors, 4 seniors, and 1 graduate. The questionnaire consists of 25 characteristics of a…

At Cuyahoga Community College (CCC), the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) for Introductory Macroeconomics Test was evaluated to determine if it was an effective tool for providing credit by examination for the college's Principles of Economics course. Though students at the present time (1991) can take the CLEP to obtain up to 45 credits…

The Work Personality Profile-Self Report (WPP-SR) is a self-report work behavior instrument for use in situational assessment in work centers, comprehensive facilities, and employment settings. The WPP-SR assesses work attitudes, values, habits, and behaviors that are essential to the achievement and maintenance of employment. It consists of 58…

This report reflects the results of an evaluation of the coverage in the annual Public Library Statistics program, a joint federal-state information collection project. It is the first phase of a broader project of the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to evaluate the overall statistics available from the annual…

This study developed a scale to measure a hearing adult's bias or lack of bias toward the capabilities of deaf adults. A list of commonly held misconceptions about the capabilities of deaf people was identified through a literature review and interviews with deaf professionals. The 35 identified items formed the Opinions about Deaf People scale,…

The purpose of this study is to help define the precise nature and limits of the tolerable range in which a researcher may be relatively confident about the statistical validity of his or her research findings, focusing specifically on the statistical validity of results when violating the assumptions associated with the one-way, fixed-effects…

A general issue related to language program development involves the empirical rationalization of cut score decisions in criterion-referenced language tests. Cut score dependability focuses on the consistency of the decisions in repeated testing or the assessment of language learner performances. In this case, the issue is to determine the optimal…

The literature was examined to find studies specifically concerned with the development of instruments designed to measure attitudes. Close attention was paid to procedures used to determine reliability and validity in the development and subsequent use of such instruments. An effort was made to select the most relevant literature from the vast…