Neither of the two major forensics associations uses an ideal point system for the team sweepstakes award at debate tournaments. The National Forensics Association (NFA) awards points for preliminary round ballots and uses a 3-tiered system of team awards based on entry size. They restrict preliminary round sweepstakes points by capping the total…

The use of Guttman weights in scoring tests is discussed. Scores of 2,500 men on one subtest of the CEED-SAT-Verbal Test were examined using cross-validated Guttman weights. Several scores were compared, as follows: Scores obtained from cross-validated Guttman weights; Scores obtained by rounding the Guttman weights to one digit, ranging from 0 to…

The separation level of grades on a multiple-choice examination as a quantitative probabilistic criterion for correct classification of students by the examination was introduced by Krutchoff. (Author)

The consequences of formula scoring versus number right scoring are examined in relation to the assumptions commonly made about the behavior of examinees in testing situations. The choice between the two is shown to be dependent upon having reduced error variance or unbiasedness as a goal. (Author/JKS)

Presents four tables for the statistical interpretation of factor scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Provides the percentile equivalents of factor scores; the significance of differences between factor scores; the frequency with which specified discrepancies occur; the significance of differences between a factor score…

Diagnostic hit rates for the Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms were compared to diagnosis by psychiatrists of the same patients. The Probability Scale employing Bayesian concepts and base rates correctly classified 70% of the patients and was more accurate by far than the other two methods used. (Author/ABB)

The study assessed the degree to which rehabilitation staff rate severity of maladaptive behaviors on the Americal Association on Mental Deficiency Adaptive Behavior Scale and developed a socially validated revision of the scoring system to allow more accurate classification of mentally retarded individuals as having mild, moderate, or severe…

Although a great deal of attention has been devoted over a period of years to the estimation of reliability from item statistics, there are still gaps in the mathematical derivation of the Kuder-Richardson results. The main purpose of this paper is to fill some of these gaps, using language consistent with modern probability theory. (Author)

Suggestions to English teachers for evaluating students' work in English composition. (MB)

An attempt was made to develop a reliable measure of preadolescents' willingness to share information about themselves (self-disclosure). The completed instrument was used to study the effects of interviewer sex, subject's sex, and interviewer disclosure input on disclosure output in this age group. (Author/NH)

A simple unbalanced block model is proposed for examination marks, as an improvement on the usual implicit model. The new model is applied to some real data and is found, by the usual normal linear theory F test, to give a highly significant improvement. Some alternative models are also considered. (Author)

A study involving 98 children (6 to 13 years old) in ten learning disabilities (LD) classes investigated the hypothesized pattern of recategorized WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) subtest scores into spatial, conceptual, and sequential areas. (SBH)

The distribution theory underlying corrections for guessing is analyzed, and the probability distributions of the random variables are derived. The correction in grade, based on random guessing of unknown answers, is compared with corrections based on educated guessing. (Author/MH)

Investigates the developmental, gender, and practical considerations surrounding three categories of Curriculum Based Management written language scoring indices. With only one exception, older students outperformed younger students on all of the scoring indices. Although at the middle school level students' levels of writing fluency and writing…

The study evaluated speed as a factor in Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised performance with 66 high scoring and 36 average scoring children (ages 3-15 years). Results cast doubt on the utility of speed bonuses in tests of general intelligence with gifted children. (Author/DB)