A test developed to assess alienation in sixth grade Spanish American students was administered to migrant students in Grades 4-8. Validity studies indicate that the test may have been too difficult for the grade levels and cultural characteristics of that group. Recommendations for further testing are included. (See TM 000 995 for a copy of the…

The feasiblity of an observational rating scale which would provide objective, reliable and quantifiable measures of social and affective behavior was investigated. The Observation of Socialization Behavior (OSB), focusing on peer-group behavior of pre-school children and designed for use in unstructured situations was developed. Two forms of the…

Principles of test administration, test validity, and accuracy of measurement underlying interpretation of standardized test scores in educational administration, instruction, and guidance are presented. Types of norm-referenced score transformations, including percentiles, standard scores, and grade equivalents, and of criterion referenced…

The early onset deaf are a disadvantaged group with educational handicaps resembling closely those of the economically disadvantaged. Most deaf students score poorly on the commonly used verbal tests of college aptitude and their scores on these tests do not predict their college performance. Gallaudet College, an accredited liberal arts college…

Comparisons of students' educational performances are usually based on test and examination results. However, for such comparisons to be valid, it is suggested that evaluations must be made on some common basis since many educational and employment decisions are based on these evaluations. Standardized tests, often used when comparisons are to be…

The Performance Indicators in Education program is intended to provide measures of the impact school districts have on the achievement of their pupils. After an extensive period of development by the Bureau of School Programs Evaluation of the New York State Education Department, reports were prepared for 628 school districts in New York State.…

The study of teacher effectiveness is confronted by a number of problems that are generally associated with the conduct of behavioral research. It is possible in some instances to resolve or circumvent some of the current methodological stumbling blocks that tend to reduce the credibility of research findings. This paper discusses three…

Suggests that removing "junk curriculum," including grammar drills, workbooks, and recitation from the classroom, and instead focusing on writing, reading, listening, and thinking, will improve teacher and student motivation. (JC)

Describes the development of a research tool, the Occupational Identity Scale, to study one dimension of ego-identity development (occupational dimension), with 417 college and high school students validating items. Identified four factors which accounted for 49 percent of the total variance. Reliability coefficients ranged between 0.70 and 0.87,…

Study of 68 school media centers in 11 states was conducted to field-test collection mapping as a technique and to amass enough data to enable individual schools to compare their collections with national pool of school collections. Collections of participating schools were also compared to nationally recognized selection lists. (CDD)

A report of research assessing teacher evaluation practices describes how the master teacher concept operates in four school districts. Theory informing the study and findings of a survey of teacher evaluation practices in 32 districts are reviewed; attempts to ensure reliability, validity, and utility are examined; and capabilities and limits of…

Institutional accountability for performance and quality is an evolving topic with immeasurable appeal. Data and sources are abundant, but validated measures and meaningful information are scarce. While pursuing an approach centered on construct validity, this study transforms complex data into useful information. Correlation analysis reveals…

This publication reports the results of a research study on the feasibility and validity of various accommodations in the context of mathematics assessment. The study compared limited English proficiency (LEP) and non-LEP students' scores on 20 science items under three different conditions: standard National Assessment for Educational Progress…

A new standard setting method, Mapmark, was recently developed by ACT Inc. in the course of a contract with the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) to set achievement levels for the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Grade 12 mathematics. Mapmark includes elements of the bookmark method (Lewis, Mitzel, & Green, 1996;…

Purpose: This paper will: (1) review the validity of the Graduate Record Examination for predicting international students' Graduate Grade Point Average (GGPA); and (2) inspect possible social, cultural and language bias or learning style differences in the prediction of international students' performance from Graduate Record Examination (GRE)…