The present study constructs and provides initial validation for a measure of positive expectancies for drinking and driving for use with adolescents and young adults (PEDD-Y). In Study 1, items were generated through open-ended responses from high school- and college-age youth. Data collected from a 2nd sample of college students (n = 404)…

The standard univariate and multivariate methods are conventionally used to analyze continuous data from groups by trials repeated measures designs, in spite of being extremely sensitive to departures from the multisample sphericity assumption when group sizes are unequal. However, in the last 10 years several authors have offered alternative…

Many researchers have suggested that temperament information could be useful for understanding the behavioral variability within the autism spectrum. The purpose of this brief report is to examine temperament profiles of 110 children with ASD (ages 3-8 years, 61 with Autistic Disorder, 42 with PDD-NOS; and 7 with Asperger Disorder) via a commonly…

Technical characteristics of the Reading Essential Skills Screener-Elementary Version (RESS-E; B. T. Erford, G. Vitali, R. Haas, & R. R. Boykin, 1995) were studied using 4 independent samples of boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 8 years. Evidence of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, decision efficiency, factorial validity,…

This exploratory study investigates the potential of Wiki technology as a tool for teaching and learning. Wikis are a component of Web 2.0 technology tools that provide collaborative features and active learning opportunities in a web-based environment. This research study sought to empirically determine the pedagogical value of using Wiki…

Today's college ACCUPLACER System's Computerized Placement Test (CPT) plays a major role for determining whether post-secondary students are ready for placement into Arithmetic, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, or College Mathematics courses. It is widely used in most college systems in the U.S. This paper discusses some of the issues to…

The focus of this report is to summarize the research that has been conducted thus far on the new SAT Writing section. The evidence provided reveals that the new writing section has satisfactory psychometric quality in that its reliability is acceptable; it is significantly related to first-year college GPA and college English grades; it has been…

e mean length of utterance in the Sentence Repetition Task grew from approximately two to three words, and the number of omissions of articles, prepositions and modifiers significantly decreased. After 3;0 years old, omissions of free function words practically disappeared. The results of Study 2 showed that mean length of utterance, omission of…

Measures developed from animal models of aging may detect dementia of the Alzheimer's type in a population at-risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although, by middle age, individuals with Down syndrome (DS) show an extraordinarily high prevalence of AD-type pathology, their severe idiopathic cognitive deficits tend to confound the "clinical"…

This study was conducted in the FL English class of a typical Spanish secondary school. The students translated a short L1 Spanish text into FL English orally as a class, with accompanying dictionary glosses, before writing it down individually. This collaborative translation was supported by the teacher, and any lexical items that were not known…

The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is an internationally administered instrument for assessing nonnative speakers' proficiency in speaking English. The research foundation of the TSE examination described in its manual refers to two sources of variation other than the achievement being measured: interrater reliability and internal consistency.…

A Monte Carlo approach is proposed, using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) programming language, for estimating reliability coefficients in generalizability theory studies. Test scores are generated by a probabilistic model that considers the probability for a person with a given ability score to answer an item with a given difficulty…

As performance-based assessments have gained wider use, there are increasing concerns about their dependability. This study is a synthesis of existing studies regarding the reliability or generalizability of performance assessments. The meta-analysis involves summarizing, examining, and evaluating research findings. Articles on the dependability…

This digest offers principles of performance assessment as an alternative to norm-referenced tests. The definition of performance assessment developed by the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology and Assessment is given, common features are listed, and the terms "performance" and "authentic" are defined. Suggested guidelines for…

The Test of Phonological Awareness (TOPA) was developed to help identify children who are delayed in their development of phonological awareness. Research supports the theory that children with poor phonological awareness are at risk of later reading difficulties. Children who score in the bottom quartile of the TOPA are considered to be at risk…