Assessed long-term predictive validity of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: Words and Sentences (CDI:WS) for children's expressive and receptive vocabulary development. Sixty-one New Zealand children were assessed with a New Zealand version of the CDI, and with the Expressive Vocabulary Test and Peabody Picture Vocabulary…

Compares multiple regression analysis and a simplified scale in predicting competitive employment after the provision of vocational rehabilitation services. The two prediction techniques yielded nearly identical results when applied to an independent, cross-validation sample. Discusses practical applications of the simplified procedure to client…

Presents a study of the spontaneous pre-sentential negations of preschool English-speaking children that supports the hypothesis that child English nonanaphoric pre-sentential negation is a form of metalinguistic exclamatory sentence negation. A detailed discourse analysis reveals these child negations as echoic and expressive of objection and…

Examines the predictive validity of placement test scores with course grade and retention in English and mathematics courses. Suggests that student dispositional characteristics explain the high proportion of variance in the dependent variables, and that instructor grading practices also make a significant contribution. Underscores the importance…

Reports on the development of a 12-item Likert-type measure of collective efficacy in schools designed to assess the extent to which a faculty believes in its conjoint capacity to influence student learning positively. A total of 452 teachers in 47 schools completed a 21-item scale later refined to 12 items. Discusses internal consistency and…

Of 120 female and 149 male master of business administration (MBA) students, women performed significantly less well on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). There were no differences in overall MBA grade point average, indicating no strong correlation between the GMAT and MBA performance. (SK)

We describe a simple classroom activity that demonstrated the process of assessing predictive validity. We assessed changes in student understanding of the process, confidence in psychological testing, and enjoyment in participating in the exercise. Students who completed the activity performed better on a test question about validity and reported…

Where do those in schools start sorting the wheat from the chaff, genuine growth potions offering long-term improvement from the elixirs, short-term opportunism and/or unrealistic expectations? The current and growing emphasis on evidence informed policy and practice is as good a place as any. The purpose of this article is to take up the issues…

We conducted 2 studies to assess and enhance levels of graduate preparation. In Study 1, 248 undergraduates and 28 graduate students completed a new measure of graduate preparation, the Grad Prep Quiz. Results documented the psychometric utility and the predictive validity of the measure, with graduate students scoring significantly higher on this…

To address criticisms that the empirical literature on assessment of career decision making has tended to lack a theoretical base, the present study explored the relevance of a general theory of decision making to career decision making by assessing the psychometric properties of the Decision Making Inventory (DMI), designed to measure Johnson's…

This study aims to advance our understanding of the assessment of numerous factors associated with recidivism among females and males involved in the juvenile justice system. In particular, this study examined the reliability (i.e., inter-rater) and validity (i.e., construct, criterion, and predictive) of the Santa Barbara Assets and Risks…

Although there have been numerous studies investigating the predictive validity of early assessment, observed predictive validity coefficients across studies are not stable. A validity generalization study was conducted in order to answer the question of whether the relationship between early assessment of children and later achievement is…

This study addresses the prediction that dropout from a UK specialized residential treatment program for adolescent sexual abusers can be determined from pre-treatment variables. Participants were 49 adolescents aged 12-16 years, who had sexually abused children, peers/adults or both. Of the variables examined, 25 showed a significant association…

Many districts and schools across the U. S. have begun to develop and administer assessments to complement state testing systems and provide additional information to monitor curriculum, instruction and schools. In advance of this trend, the Jackson Public Schools (JPS) district has had a district benchmark testing system in place for many years.…

This study investigates community-level prediction of adolescent substance use and problem behaviors using ratings by community leaders to assess the effects of four risk factors on levels of drug use and problem behaviors. Three questions are examined: (a) Can psychometrically sound measures of community leader perceptions of risk factors in…