Three rating scales--with all positive or all negative wording, or a mixture of both--were administered to 522 children in grades four through six. The results indicated that it was difficult for students to indicate agreement by disagreeing with a negative statement. This affected test validity. Author/GDC)

Before using the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) for teacher certification, states are required to conduct a state-wide validity study. This paper describes approaches used in 35 studies for 18 states to establish (NTE) content validity through curriculum and job relatedness and to establish minimum performance standards. (BS)

This article studies the convergent-divergent validity and reliability estimates for clinical interview and self-report measures of ego identity. The findings suggest that the two measures may be: (1) assessing relatively distinct forms of ego identity; or (2) that the ego-identity construct as measured by the process and outcome dimensions needs…

A university economics department tested the commonly held opinion that college teachers can predict their students' eventual level of educational attainment from their personal observations of the student. A larger-than-anticipated margin of prediction error was revealed. (MSE)

The Resident Evaluation Form (REF) was developed to assess resident physicians' clinical performance. This research sought to empirically evaluate the intuitively derived REF scales representing areas of clinical performance: interpersonal ability, cognitive ability, clinical skills, and professional attributes. Analysis yielded cognitive…

Examined the concurrent validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in a sample of 101 students aged 6 to 16, referred for learning, mental or emotional disabilities. Results showed significant correlations between the PPVT-R and the WISC-R overall sample. (JAC)

This study investigated how classroom teaching behavior mediates the relationship between personality and college teaching effectiveness. Instructional effectiveness was measured by end-of-term student ratings. Path analysis revealed that approximately half of the relationship between personality and teaching effectiveness was mediated by…

The Self Description Questionnaire II (SDQII) results from 901 Australian secondary school students were factor analyzed and the factors correlated to identify the relationship of self-concept factors to age, sex, and academic achievement. Findings supported the multidimensionality of self-concept and support the construct validity of the SDQII.…

Harter's Perceived Competence Scale for Children was administered to 714 Taiwanese fifth graders; results were compared with those from American samples. Cultural differences were found. Results among Chinese replicate the measures' factorial validity and, across the two groups, indicate a high correlation between perceived cognitive competence…

The usefulness of four standardized rating scales in assessing student behavior problems is discussed: the Child Behavior Checklist (completed by parents); the Teacher Report Form; the Direct Observation Form; and the Youth Self Report. Four case studies illustrate the use of these checklists in school-based assessment. (Author/GDC)

The revised 20-item Aiken-Dreger Mathematics Attitude Scale was administered to 2538 urban minority students in grades 8 to 10. Results supported the existence of two underlying factors, enjoyment and fear. (GDC)

The development and validation of a measure of classroom psychosocial environment based on student and teacher perceptions of seven environmental dimensions (personalization, involvement, student cohesiveness, satisfaction, task orientation, innovation, and individualization) of seminars and tutorials are described. (MSE)

This study employs a program evaluation method to collect intervention effectiveness data for a special education program designed to serve mildly handicapped students with reading difficulties. The potential contributions of effectiveness data to decision making are discussed within the context of a classification model. (Author/LMO)

A comparison of teacher ratings, peer roster ratings, and self-ratings with observational data, involving 22 learning disabled or educable retarded and 16 nonhandicapped high school students, yielded such results as that the peer and teacher ratings effectively measured time-on-task during classroom activities, but did not correlate well with…

The Ammons Quick Test (AQT) was investigated to determine the degree to which it could predict first-semester freshman year college grade point average for a sample of 63 specially-admitted Black female undergraduates. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the AQT did not appear to be a valid predictor. (Author/PN)