The development and validation of a measure of classroom psychosocial environment based on student and teacher perceptions of seven environmental dimensions (personalization, involvement, student cohesiveness, satisfaction, task orientation, innovation, and individualization) of seminars and tutorials are described. (MSE)

The Boder Test of Reading-Spelling Patterns is designed as an assessment of reading and spelling skills that allows specific diagnosis of the source and typology of reading problems. From a purely psychometric perspective, the BTRSP fails on virtually every characteristic examined. (BW)

Concludes that the Multi-Digit Test stimulates better retention than multiple choice tests while offering the advantage of computerized scoring and analysis. (FL)

The authors recap the main issues in their critique of Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore (CHK) as well as CHK's rejoinder. These issues include reliability and validity of test scores, the use of particular statistical models and inferences from these, and the importance of school policies in assuring higher achievement among students. (IS)

In this report, we review current scientific knowledge on the topic of youth mentoring, including what is known about relationships and programs, and their interface with organizations and institutions. Two primary conclusions can be drawn from this review. First, mentoring relationships are most likely to promote positive outcomes and avoid harm…

As the field of gifted education has increasingly embraced broader definitions of giftedness, teachers and specialists in the education of the gifted and talented need additional ways to assess the talent development needs of a broader array of students. Since learning styles comprise an important component of any comprehensive talent development…

A multi-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) approach was used to analyze clinical performance ratings of 24 first-year residents in one surgery residency program in Thailand to investigate three types of rater effects: leniency, rater inconsistency, and restriction of range. Faculty from 14 surgical services rated the clinical performance of…

A multi-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) model was used to analyze a clinical skills assessment of 173 fourth-year medical students in a Midwestern medical school to investigate four types of rater errors: leniency, inconsistency, halo, and restriction of range. Each student performed six clinical tasks with six standardized patients (SPs), who…

This symposium is comprised of three papers on organizational learning, change, and socialization. "A Study of the Organizational Learning Profile (OLP)" (Rae Dorai, Adela J. McMurray) reports findings that show the OLP (Pace et al. 1998) is a reliable instrument for measuring organizational learning and its content validity is high.…

The large majority of students in the Kohlbergian tradition have focused on stages of moral judgment development, on moral reasoning, and on research comparing the influence of standard variables such as age, education, and gender on moral reasoning skills. After briefly comparing the four most frequently employed moral judgment tests developed…

The Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (Early LAP) provides a systematic method for observing children's functioning in the birth to 36-month age range in order to assist teachers, clinicians, and parents in assessing individual skills development in six developmental domains: gross motor, fine motor, cognition, language, self-help, and social…

The study reported in this paper is an attempt to develop a comprehensive model of measuring problem solving and posing (PSP) skills based on Marshall's schema theory (ST). A battery of tests on PSP skills was administered to 5th and 6th grade Cypriot students (n=2519). The Rasch model was used and a scale was created for the battery of tests and…

The Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC), a version of the well-established Conflict Tactics Scales, was developed to improve its ability to obtain data on physical and psychological child maltreatment. The conceptual and methodological approaches used to develop the CTSPC are described and psychometric data, including reliability,…

The first edition of this book was written to give information about testing to people whose work gave them access to test results, but whose training included little or nothing about the use and interpretation of tests. Later editions have been intended for a broader audience as the need for understanding what test scores really mean has…

The objective of this study was to investigate the emergence of a "mindy" (a unit of mind). The mindy is characterized as an open, organized, discrete, and kinematic mental shape. The study was the sequel to research on the emergence of mental shape (R. Laassonen, 1993). The subjects were 84 students, aged 13 to 16 years and…