THIS WORKING PAPER IS CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEQUENTIALLY SCALED TESTS FOR STUDENTS RECEIVING INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION. THESE TESTS WERE DESIGNED TO INDICATE MASTERY OF DESIRED BEHAVIORS RATHER THAN TO DISCRIMINATE AMONG INDIVIDUALS. OBJECTIVES WERE IDENTIFIED AND ARRANGED SEQUENTIALLY. TESTS WERE GIVEN TO KINDERGARTEN, FIRST-GRADE…

The paper outlines several studies over a two-year period to develop a self-report and observer-rating measure of sensitivity/encounter group outcome. The initial form of the scale was taken from McMillan (1971) who developed a measure of 16 categories of group outcome; McMillan's work indicated the scale had high reliability. Subsequent study…

This paper describes a study designed to collect quantified observational data on the behavior of children and teachers throughout the day at three typical quality day care centers. From 50 to 55 hours of observation were completed on five randomly-chosen 3-year-olds in each setting. While the number of subjects and centers was limited, the…

A survey of college students regarding course evaluation forms reveals that students feel that while rating forms provide an effective method of evaluation, the results are ignored by many teachers. Students feel that teachers do not change their behavior as a result of weaknesses identified by the students. (JMF)

The effectiveness of a strategy for improving performance on multiple-choice items for examinees was assessed using an aptitude-treatment interaction model. Results showed that for low-anxious examinees, generation of an answer before selecting a response led to higher performance, but not for highly anxious examinees. (Author/JAZ)

Relationships were assessed among five perspectives of children's adjustment: teacher, parent, peer and self-ratings, and behavior observations. Secondary purposes were to examine relationships between adjustment and achievement measures and to compare urban vs. suburban, male vs. female, and referred vs. nonreferred children on adjustment…

Investigated capability of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Verbal Comprehension (VC), Perceptual Organization (PO), and Freedom from Distractibility (FD) factor scores and student self-ratings of behavior to predict academic achievement in students referred for psychological evaluations due to learning and behavior…

The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale Classroom Edition and the American Association on Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale School Edition were completed by teachers of 44 moderately and severely mentally retarded students; their parents (N=37) completed the Vineland Interview Edition-Survey Form. Comparison between the scales and respondents…

Reviews aspects of the educational environment that impact on apprehensive students; examines the influence of task structure on student performance; and suggests ways structure can be used effectively to enhance communication competence among students at various need levels, specifically those with high or low communication apprehension. (JD)

Social skills across three subgroups of midly handicapped children were compared to a matched sample of nonhandicapped students using a teacher rating scale. Function analysis revealed that 75 percent of the subjects could be correctly classified on the basis of teacher-rated social skills. (Author/JAZ)

The Resident Evaluation Form (REF) was developed to assess resident physicians' clinical performance. This research sought to empirically evaluate the intuitively derived REF scales representing areas of clinical performance: interpersonal ability, cognitive ability, clinical skills, and professional attributes. Analysis yielded cognitive…

Students were asked to rate several hypothetical instructor profiles, constructed by systematically manipulating information about the instructors' classroom behaviors. Factor analyses were performed where factors represented clusters of semantically equivalent items. Students imposed an implicit semantic organization on their ratings, apart from…

The usefulness of four standardized rating scales in assessing student behavior problems is discussed: the Child Behavior Checklist (completed by parents); the Teacher Report Form; the Direct Observation Form; and the Youth Self Report. Four case studies illustrate the use of these checklists in school-based assessment. (Author/GDC)

A comparison of teacher ratings, peer roster ratings, and self-ratings with observational data, involving 22 learning disabled or educable retarded and 16 nonhandicapped high school students, yielded such results as that the peer and teacher ratings effectively measured time-on-task during classroom activities, but did not correlate well with…

Teachers and classroom aides of learning disabled students completed the Conners Abbreviated Teacher Rating Scale (CATRS) on two separate occasions. The study investigated the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of this instrument. CATRS appeared to have sufficient reliability to recommend its continued frequent use. (Author/DWH)