This report outlines the stages of development and validation of the Attitude Toward the Subject Science Scale (ATSSS). The instrument, developed in accordance with the Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) theory of attitude assessment, can be used by junior secondary science teachers or administrators to assess student attitudes toward the subject science…

Research involving Potkay and Allen's Adjective Generation Technique (AGT) is reviewed concerning the measurement of anxiety. In this paper, no distinction is made between state anxiety and trait anxiety. It is suggested that state and trait anxiety may be considered apart from behavioral consistency. The issue of dramaturgical quality is…

A study investigated whether a positive correlation existed between scores obtained by incoming freshman on the recently developed Degrees of Reading Power Test (DRP) and the required Reading Comprehension subtest of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT). The subjects, 217 William Paterson College freshman enrolled in a…

The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) is the most widely used instrument for measuring the tactics used by members of a family in a conflict situation. It is intended to measure the extent to which family members use reasoning, verbal aggression, and physical aggression. Focus is on: (1) bringing together and evaluating criticisms of the CTS so that…

Using tests that are neither reliable nor valid, school districts are currently categorizing large numbers of children as unready for entrance into kindergarten and first grade. Parents are being asked to wait a year before sending their children to public school classes or to place them in a pre-kindergarten class. Other children complete…

This study reports on the development of a Likert scale measuring attitudes toward Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) victims (ATAV) in five phases. Participants included a total of 215 male and 268 female undergraduates at Oregon State University. The results for phase 1 yielded a scale with high part-whole correlations, corrected…

This study concentrates on the development and estimation of measurement properties of the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES). Three university faculties in education and psychology developed a pool of routine, frequent academic behaviors of college students. The pool was examined by seven graduate teaching assistants and trimmed and…

During the 1986 administration of the Work Aspect Preference Scale (WAPS) in a study of career development from Year 8 to Year 9, some of the students in Mount Druitt, west of Sydney, Australia, had difficulty in understanding the meaning of some terms. A closer investigation was then conducted of the usefulness of the WAPS for this group of…

Reasons for administering tests fall into two categories--decision-making and promoting learning. The two bases of tests are learning objectives and the level of learning at which training is developed. Test development involves a number of steps. The best way to tie objectives to test items is through the use of a table of specifications, which…

Four papers presented at the National Council on Measurement in Education meeting are critiqued. G. R. Mandeville and H. Heidari (1988), in a study of unusually effective schools, asked if correlations among cohorts of schools differ depending on the method of analysis used. It is suggested that it would be better to ask whether schools identified…

The evaluation tools written by teachers are rarely valid or reliable. One teaching aid that can help in the creation of an effective evaluation instrument is called a test map. A test map is a systematic method to consider variables that are important in the construction of the format of a test. Five variables that are discussed in the test…

Inspired by four recent decisions to change achievement tests used in the Austin Independent School District, the separate forms used and procedures followed have been combined into a systematic approach intended for use in future achievement test selections. A rating scale (Attachment 1) was developed to expedite a systematic comparison among…

The Assessment Resource Center (ARC) at Florida State University provides computer assisted testing (CAT) for approximately 4,000 students each term. Computer capabilities permit a small proctoring staff to administer tests simultaneously to large numbers of students. Programs provide immediate feedback for students and generate a variety of…

The faculty of an intensive program of English as a second language for college-bound students, questioning the objectivity of faculty evaluations of non-native college applicants' written essays, assessed the existing evaluation process, reformed it, tested it, and planned for ongoing development. In the first stage, readers read and graded…

Several analyses were performed as part of the process of validating a recently developed scale to measure the attitudes of students toward writing. The Florida Writing Project Student Survey is a 25-item measure of writing attitudes designed for use with students in grades six through twelve. It was developed to assess the attitudes of students…