Examines evidence presented for the validity of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) rating scales in "Foreign Language Annals" (1990), "System" (1992), and "Proficiency Guidelines" (1982, 1986). The article argues that this evidence is insufficient to support a claim for validity. (36…

Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) are common in children, and forecasting their prevalence in schools is of interest to both academic researchers and local authorities. Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is one measure often used for this purpose. The article presents the first independent validation of a simple…

Evaluation is an inherent part of education for an increasingly diverse student population. Confidence in one's test-taking skills, and the associated testing environment, needs to be examined from a perspective that combines the concept of Bandurian self-efficacy with the concept of stereotype threat reactions in a diverse student sample. Factors…

This study examined the factors that influence consumer satisfaction with mobile telephone use in Malaysia. The validity of the study's constructs, criterion, and content was confirmed. Construct validity was verified through the factor analysis with a total variance of 73.72 percent explained by all six independent factors. Content validity was…

With an annual yearly growth rate of 9.3 percent over the last two decades, Advanced Placement courses have become a juggernaut in American high school education. AP courses are routinely perceived as an indicator of educational rigor, and many schools push to enroll low-income or minority students in these courses in the hope of preparing them…

The purpose of this study was to identify potential general outcome indicators (GOIs) of language proficiency. Brief narratives were elicited from 45 kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade children using single-picture scenes and a standardized protocol. Measures of language productivity, verbal fluency, and grammaticality were examined for…

Excellent medication adherence (greater than 95%) is required for optimal HIV treatment success. This study aimed to develop and validate a brief scale to assess psychological readiness for successfully starting and adhering to HIV medications. HIV-positive men and women (N = 142) from an HIV outpatient clinic completed the proposed HIV Medication…

Purpose: Two studies are presented providing evidence indicating the diagnostic and predictive validity of the American version of "The Renfrew Bus Story" (J. Cowley & C. Glasgow, 1994). Method: Thirty-two children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 32 children with typical language development participated in the first…

This article presents findings of two studies, one conducted with middle school students (n = 500) in a rural setting and a second conducted with middle school students (n = 528) in an urban setting, of the reliability and validity of the "Student Risk Screening Scale" (SRSS; Drummond, 1994). Results revealed high internal consistency, test-retest…

This article discusses the issues and implications of high stakes tests on English language learners (ELLs). As ELLs are being included in all high stakes assessments tied to accountability efforts (e.g., No Child Left Behind), it is crucial that issues related to the tests be critically evaluated relative to their use. In this case, academic…

The Landscape Model of text comprehension was extended to the comprehension of audiovisual discourse from text and video TV news stories. Concepts from the story were coded for activation after each sequence, creating a matrix of activations that was reduced to a vector of the degree of total activation for each concept. In Study 1, the degree…

Replication was undertaken of a recent study conducted by Buell and Anthony which had found that recidivism and posthospital employment could be predicted by a single demographic variable, number of previous hospitalizations and employment history, respectively. Results of the replication were consistent for posthospital employment but not for…

Although criteria for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have become better defined, few research findings have appeared in the literature which characterize the degenerative course of the disease. Of particular interest to both clinicians and researchers would be a study focusing on changes in the patient's…

A sample of 640 children between 2.5 and 6 years old provided norms for scales of the Revised Gesell Preschool Examination. Scales focused on motor, adaptive, verbal, number, and personal and social development. A total of 272 children were reevaluated at 8.5 years on 22 variables derived from teacher ratings, parent questionnaires, and tests. The…

Recently there appears to have been an increase in interest in the relative power of general ability and narrower cognitive aptitudes to predict real world performance in training programs and on the job. This area has important practical implications for personnel selection and classification, particularly for large organizations such as the…