This report documents the design, construction, and psychometric characteristics of the assessment instruments used in the spring 2004 data collection of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998?99 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.The ECLS-K…

The Perceptions Of School Culture (POSC) instrument was designed to measure the perceptions of a school staff regarding various dimensions of school culture contained in a hypothesized model of school cultural change. Specifically, this model posits that the development of a high-performance learning culture is influenced by school vision and…

This study attempted to develop psychometric properties of the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (SOCCS), an instrument used to assess the awareness, skills, and knowledge of counselors working with the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population. A sample of 287 undergraduates, master-level and doctoral-level students, and counseling…

This paper describes major concepts related to item analysis for criterion-referenced tests including validity, reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination, particularly in relation to criterion-referenced tests. The paper discussed how these concepts can be used to revise and improve items and listed suggestions regarding general…

Measures of normal variations in personality, called "psychological type," are frequently used in education (e.g., to identify learning styles) and counseling (e.g., in career counseling). However, the most frequently used measure of types has been criticized on various psychometric grounds. The present study investigated the…

This report is a review and analysis of the psychometric literature on the topic of out-of-level testing. Out-of-level testing refers to the practice of using a level of the test other than the test taken by most of the students in a student's current grade level. Much of the research on out-of-level testing was conducted in the 1970s and 1980s,…

This paper summarizes main findings from a two-step investigation of the translation of a psychological scale from English into Spanish. The overall purpose of the study was to document the effects of tailoring a scale with etic items (i.e., culturally general items) and emic items (i.e., culture specific items) on the quality of the information.…

This paper describes the development of the Behavioral and Emotional Strengths Scale (BESS), developed as part of a program which focuses on strengths of children usually seen as having severe emotional and/or behavioral disorders. The BESS is a 68-item scale that identifies children's behavioral strengths on five dimensions: (1) self-control; (2)…

This book discusses constructing variables and making measures. It begins by outlining the qualities a number must meet before it qualifies as a measure of something. The basis is the measurement philosophy of G. Rasch. The first requirement for making good measures is good raw material. To achieve the possibility of comparisons, the data must…

School counselors seeking to restructure the services of the institution for which they work may consider adapting one or more of the proposals presented in this paper as a way to improve existing conditions of employment. (Author)

Explores the limitations associated with the expectancy formula approach, using a logical and mathematical analysis. Expectancy tables are predicted on the questionable assumption that achievement follows a straight line growth pattern. The approach is biased in the direction of applying a more stringent underachievement criterion for older,…

Several measures of the speed of information processing were related to ability factors derived from the Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Correlations among the ability measures, among the information processing measures, and between the two domains were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. (Author/PN)

A study used psychometric information to determine the efficacy of a stress management unit in a high school health class. Students who took the unit showed improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and the ability to relax, as demonstrated on tests of heart rate and muscular tension. (PP)

Slosson Intelligence Test scores are the best predictor of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) (WISC-R) IQ scores. But they are often higher than WISC-R scores and increasingly verbally weighted. A skilled teacher's classroom observation is as valid an indicator of need for in-depth assessment as screening tests. (JAC)

Reviews psychometic studies of human spatial ability and studies of environmental, genetic, hormonal, and neurological influences that interact in producing individual variation in spatial test scores. (MP)