Part III of the National Board Examination--a certifying examination of medical knowledge and patient management abilities--was assessed using 1,866 first-year residents. This 15-year study comparing Part III results with those of Parts I and II and with superiors' ratings indicates Part III's validity and provides a model for future research.…

Discusses issues involved in the construction, validity, and use of tests that evaluate educational progress, especially those that assess higher-order cognitive functioning. Reviews the four articles in this special issue. (FMW)

Demonstrated that measures of predictor constructs had predictably different patterns of correlations with different criteria. In study of Navy recruiters (N=267), individual personality scales had significantly different relationships with three different rating criteria. In study with Army enlisted soldiers (N=8,642), cognitive ability and…

Discusses the purposes and goals of mathematics assessment, the features of locally developed versus standardized tests, the validation of assessment tests, the decisions made from test scores, and the fair preparation of students. (DMM)

Three studies explored the effects of grouping versus randomized items in questionnaires on internal consistency and test-retest reliability with samples of 80, 80, and 100, respectively, university students and undergraduates. The 2 correlational and 1 experimental studies were reasonably consistent in demonstrating that neither format was…

The study used 32 children (mean age 11 years) with moderate sensorineural hearing losses to examine whether Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL) scores were significantly affected by mode of presentation. No differences were found between auditory-only and auditory-visual modes of presentation. (Author/DB)

This article responds to criticisms made in the Ebmeier and Schmulbach study (EC 221 845) of the Scholastic Aptitude Test as used by talent search programs such as the Center for the Advancement of Academically Talented Youth (CTY). The history of CTY's uses of cutoff scores and alternative interpretations of statistics are discussed. (PB)

The usefulness and validity of the 3 versions (Infant-Toddler, Early Childhood, and Middle Childhood) of the HOME Inventory were studied with 261 children with cognitive, hearing, vision, or orthopedic handicaps. The Inventory in its original form and a modified form was subjected to analysis of reliability, construct validity, and criterion…

Describes a paper-and-pencil test for high school biology students measuring science process skills, such as developing hypotheses; making predictions; identifying assumptions; analyzing data; and formulating conclusions. Reports some data on reliability and validity of the test. Provides all 35 items of the test. (YP)

Refers to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court's disparate impact interpretation of Title VII in Griggs versus Duke Power Company. Contends that attacks on the Griggs decision are legally unsound and that claims made by advocates of validity generalization are scientifically unsupported. (Author/NB)

Techniques for quantifying the degree of fit between test items and curricula are classified according to the purposes of assessing: overall fit, fit of individual items to content domain, and the impact of test specifications on performance. Procedures for calculating each index and their properties are included. (SLD)

Sources of current misuse of standardized tests in assessing the quality of home-based educational programs are identified. Development of new instruments and cooperation of concerned groups are suggested as a means of increasing educational alternatives, excellence, and accountability. (Author/TJH)

Compared Stanford-Binet (Fourth Edition) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised as instruments for assessing the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of students (N=35) classified as learning disabled in elementary and secondary grades. Results suggest the tests will yield similar intelligence quotients for the learning disabled…

Examined the relative power of measures of perceived family support, hopelessness, and depression for the classification of suicide attempters and nonattempters in a series of 8- to 13-year-old psychiatric inpatients (N=25). Results indicated that a measure of a child's perceived family support discriminated between suicide attempters and…

Validated aptitude tests used to help make personnel decisions about military recruits against hands-on tests of job performance in radio repairers and automotive mechanics. Data were filled with errors, reducing accuracy of validity coefficients. Discusses how validity coefficients can be made more accurate by exercising quality control during…