Many studies have found that men have a higher level of economic understanding than women. Why such performance differences might matter for practical purposes is discussed. Results of a study which explored whether the gender differences found may be partly a result of the test instruments used are presented. (RM)

Reviews 26 instruments developed to assess temperament at the infant, preschool, and school-age levels, giving particular attention to instrument content, standardization samples, reliability, and validity. It is concluded that, at present, no single psychometrically adequate instrument is available. Suggestions are made for future approaches to…

Discusses the hypothesis that the difficulty of a multiple-choice comprehension test does not just depend on the difficulty of the text, but rather on the text and the questions. Presents ways to evaluate the difficulty of the text, the questions on it, and the test as a whole. (EKN)

An instrument was developed for assessment of attitude-value orientations of elementary-age Indian children. Subscales represented value dimensions upon which Indian and Anglo children were hypothesized to differ. Factor analysis and analysis of variance data which address construct validity are presented. (Author/HLM)

Describes development/validation of short forms of Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ), My Class Inventory (MCI), and Classroom Environment Scale (CES). In addition to these forms measuring perceptions of actual classroom environment, ICEQ and CES short forms measuring preferred classroom environment were also developed.…

Describes the creation and objectives of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and reviews the findings of an evaluation of the NAEP, published in "Measuring the Quality of Education," by Wirtz and Lapointe. Focuses on the role that the NAEP can play in establishing uniform, national educational standards. (GC)

Addresses problems associated with Prediger's article questioning the usefulness and fairness of the unnormed Self-Directed Search (SDS) for females. Discusses issues of sex differences and same-sex test norming. (RC)

Where human beings are concerned and complex behavior is involved, prediction of future performance is no simple matter. Scientifically developed, systematically standardized and carefully validated tests have emerged as the most reliable tools in predictive efficacy. If opponents of standardized testing win, society will lose. (Author/CM)

Determined the construct validity of the California Test of Personality-Secondary Level (CTP) to ascertain whether 12 components of personality are separate and meaningful (N=1,800). Findings indicated that the 180 items of the CTP are represented better as a nine-factor construct. (PAS)

Factor analyzed the Social Interest Index-Revised (SII-R), which measures levels of social interest attained in each of four life task areas. Four factors (N=308) were defined, i.e., a self-significance factor, a love factor, a friendship factor, and a work factor. Results support the empirical validity of the scale. (Author/PAS)

Describes an informal project that rescued the 1926 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) from oblivion and administered it to a group of college students in 1980-81. Suggests the usefulness for this SAT as a prediction instrument today because of its excellent reliability and interest correlation. (PAS)

Offers opposing views on the value of mass testing in English. (JL)

Three item-construction principles for multiple-choice tests were studied to determine how they affected test results for high school students: (1) use of incomplete sentence stem; (2) location of blank in the stem; and (3) presence of noncueing material. Differences in item construction had a slight effect on test results. (Authors/CJ)

A shortened version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) was developed. It yielded a coefficient alpha reliability estimated at .98, correlated .97 with the original MARS, and showed relationships with state, trait, and test anxiety parallel to the original MARS. It should be useful for mathematical course-related applications.…

Administered the Missouri Children's Picture Series (MCPS) to two groups of teacher-referred male children (N=20): one group was referred for learning problems and the other for behavioral problems. Results revealed no significant mean differences between groups. Questions are raised as to the usefulness and validity of the MCPS. (Author)