This study examined second-term and second-year retention of freshmen (n=6,054) and nonfreshman transfer students (n=2,733) from DePaul University, a large, urban, private institution. The predictor variables included both achievement and noncognitive measures collected at DePaul and on the ACT Assessment. Two questions formed the basis for this…

The current preoccupation in the United States with test-based accountability is founded on a set of faulty assumptions--about education practices elsewhere in the world, about international test score comparisons, and about the extent to which test scores are valid indicators of the quality of education or the state of the economy. For example,…

The response to intervention (RTI) of English language learners identified as at risk for reading difficulties in the fall of first grade was examined at the end of first grade and at the end of second grade. Students at risk for reading problems were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Intervention students received supplemental…

This study investigated the score exchangeability of concept maps with problem-solving essays. Of interest was whether sixth-grade students' concept maps predicted their scores on essay responses that used concept map content. Concept maps were hypothesized to be alternatives to performance assessments for content-area domain knowledge in science.…

The Idaho Comprehensive Literacy Assessment (ICLA) is a faculty-developed, state-wide, high-stakes assessment of pre-service teachers' knowledge and application of research based literacy practices. The literacy faculty control all aspects of the test, including construction, refinement, administration, scoring and reporting. The test development…

This paper reports on a study involving the administration of two examinations that were designed to evaluate student knowledge in several areas of computing. The tests were given both to computer science majors and to those enrolled in computer science classes from other majors. They sought to discover whether computer science majors demonstrated…

A study examined teaching methods for vocabulary at the first grade level. The study compared teaching vocabulary in context and teaching vocabulary in isolation. Subjects were 32 culturally diverse first-grade students from varying socio-economic backgrounds. The sample consisted of 14 boys and 18 girls, heterogeneously grouped. Two teacher-made…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test were administered in counterbalanced order to a sample of 39 school identified students (28 males and 11 females) with learning disabilities. Mean age was 9 years, 3 months. The WISC-III Full Scale IQ and K-BIT IQ Composite produced a correlation of .74 (p…

This study assessed the bipolarity of cognitive style for 970 clients of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation, a vocational guidance service. The 462 male and 508 female examinees were aged 14 to 65 years, with a median age of 24 years. Three cognitive style tests were investigated: (1) the Kagan Matching Familiar Figures Test (KMFFT); (2) the…

Many testing programs include a section of optional questions in addition to mandatory parts of a test. These optional parts of a test are not often truly parallel to one another, and groups of examinees selecting each optional test section are not equivalent to one another. This paper provides a general method based on missing-data methods for…

A correlational analysis was performed to examine the relationship between recognition and recall test formats. A total of 236 college students completed one of four 80-item general knowledge tests; the forms contained 20 items of each of four formats: (1) true; (2) false; (3) multiple-choice; and (4) free response. Ninety-three of the subjects…

A pictorial-rating-scale sociometric instrument was administered to 91 middle-socioeconomic status first- and third-grade children two times, four weeks apart under two conditions, using a three-step and a five-step rating scale. No significant overall differences in reliability was found between the three-step and the five-step scale. However, in…

Past research has shown significant treatment versus control differences using paradox, although the literature often does not detail how the paradoxical directive is given to the client. College students (N=105) were tested with the Procrastination Log and the 40 with the highest scores were selected in order to study the effectiveness of paradox…

The authors investigated whether the constructs measured by the Kindergarten Screening Inventory (KSI) were the same for males and females and for Anglo American, Negro American and Mexican American ethnic groups. Results indicate they are very similar. (Author)

The validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (PDQ-R) was examined. The PDQ-R and the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale (SD) were administered in the spring of 1989 to 45 undergraduates (26 females and 19 males) at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. One month later, the Hopkins Symptom Check List (SCL-90) was…