Three individuals (8, 10, and 24 years old, with diagnoses of autism and mental retardation) participated in a message-passing facilitated communication format to determine whether they could disclose information previously unknown to their facilitators. Results showed valid facilitated communication from each participant. Out of 720 communicative…

Describes the academic context in which the "French CAT" was created and trialed and gives a detailed consideration of the test presentation platform and operating algorithms. Finally, the article evaluates the first administration of the test and discusses its reliability and validity as a placement instrument for first-year Australian…

Describes a study of 230 licensed practical nurses in associate degree nursing programs in 5 states to determine the extent that admission requirements and program characteristics predicted student success. Finds that none of the admissions requirements predicted student success, while the only program characteristic related to student success was…

Developed a measure of the structure and correlates of 279 early childhood practitioners' emotion beliefs. Found that emotion beliefs were related to practitioners' level of education and background in early childhood education. Comparison with Korean teachers' beliefs showed differences reflecting culturally specific expectations about children's…

An investigation of the use of probabilistic methodologies for identifying cheaters on classroom multiple-choice examinations concludes that imperfections in the detection techniques, coupled with legal issues, necessarily limit the applicability and utility of these strategies. (Author)

Paper introduces a collection of papers on educational assessment, noting controversies surrounding both old and new assessment methods, discussing the persistent set of technical issues that must be addressed by the research community in measurement, and examining work by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student…

Four validity scales were developed for the Neuropsychology Behavior and Affect Profile using data from clinical and nonclinical samples. A second study, which involved 157 subjects, indicated that combinations of the clinical and validity scales effectively differentiated dissemblers from brain injury patients, even when dissemblers were highly…

The Cognition Rating Form (CRF), a scoring measure for the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank, was evaluated with 56 adolescent psychiatric patients and 102 high school controls. Concurrent validities and sensitivity rates indicated that the CRF shows promise as a thought sampling scoring measure. (SLD)

The question of validity, or how high-stakes tests are being used and interpreted, threatens to undermine the entire standards movement. Joint standards developed by three professional associations say decisions affecting students' life chances should not be based on test scores alone. Objectivity and teaching to tests are real concerns. (MLH)

Discusses fundamental issues of contention regarding educational research on service learning, including standards of validity and who is represented in the research. Examines the crisis in legitimization and demonstrates how various research paradigms are necessary and appropriate for understanding the impact and process of service learning…

Describes the process of producing a valid and reliable Communication Styles Questionnaire (CSQ) that teachers of 16-19 year old students in English post-compulsory education may use to monitor and evaluate how they tend to interact with students. Considers the development, validity, and reliability of the CSQ. (CMK)

A study assessed the cross-cultural psychometric characteristics and validity of a multiple-gating screening procedure used by the Early Screening Project (ESP) to screen and identify 126 children at risk for behavioral problems in Head Start centers. Results indicate that the ESP was effective in identifying children exhibiting serious behavioral…

This study examined the cross-ethnic predictive validity of Ga (auditory processing) and Gc (crystallized intelligence) for reading achievement among low-SES English-speaking White and Hispanic students. Results indicated that there were no differences between ethnic groups in the prediction of reading ability, and that phonetic coding and…

This article discusses how interpretive research can challenge the special education field to think differently about what is already known and to factor in different ways of knowing and different meanings. Three dimensions of interpretive research are explored: "truth" value and accuracy, context and relations, and utility and relevance.…

The validity of the 600-yard walk/run, the 20-meter shuttle run, and a modified 16-meter shuttle run was determined to measure aerobic capacity (VO2peak) in 34 children with mental retardation (ages 10-17). All field tests were found to be very reliable, and VO2peak was significantly related to them all. (Author/CR)