The relevance of testing to curriculum is measured by the closeness of fit between test items and major program objectives. In this paper two procedures for analyzing the curriculum/test overlap are compared. The first method obtains a detailed analysis of a priority area of the curriculum. The process brings the curriculum into alignment with the…

The purpose of this paper is to further the cause of clarifying construct interpretations of tests, by proposing that non-metric multidimensional scaling may be more useful than factor analysis or other latent structure models for investigating the internal structure of tests. It also suggests that typical problems associated with scaling…

The purposes of this study were to: (1) develop a tangible instrument to measure pupils' body size estimation; (2) test the feasibility of using the instrument with young elementary school children; (3) develop, utilize, and modify directions to the children; and (4) initially check validity. Ten second-grade children were instructed to build a…

Large-sample item response data for the 10-item Paper Folding worksample 622 (N=2,749) and for five new experimental paper folding items (N=2,514) are analyzed with the logistic item response model and with full-information item factor analysis. The main results of the unidimensional analysis are that: (1) item discrimination is heterogeneous, so…

This study reports the results of a pilot study of the relationship between teachers and students. The study used a newly developed measure: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). In a sample of 72 kindergarten children, the STRS was found to have three factors: Secure, Change, and Insecure. The total scale and the subscales based on these…

A study examined the effect of verbal reporting of students' thinking on their performance during an examination. Subjects, 343 high school seniors, were randomly divided into 4 experimental groups, and a different procedure for eliciting students' thinking during a critical thinking test was used for each group. A control group took the same test…

The report examines uses, advantages, and criteria for selection of behavior rating scales (BRSs) and their use with juvenile offenders, focusing in particular on the Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale (BDRS). Previously normed using a representative sample of behavior disordered and nonhandicapped males and females in grades K-11 (N=1,942), the…

Job satisfaction is highly researched in industrial and organizational psychology, and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) is often used to measure job satisfaction. The JDI has been shown to have significant convergent and discriminant validities, good internal consistency and stability, and has been related to various personal and job factors. While…

This study was conducted to investigate the expected and actual adjustment of a select sample of students, engineering and science majors, at a public university in a rural midwestern community. Matriculating freshmen (N=247) who were engineering and science students completed the anticipated adjustment form of the Student Adaptation to College…

This paper examines the validity of Vygotsky's interpretation of the private speech (PS) phenomenon on the basis of findings reported in the literature. A review of available findings provided support for an age-related shift from overt to covert means of verbal self-regulation and for an interpsychological to intrapsychological shift in the…

Questions have been raised about what criteria to use in selecting, training, and hiring teachers, and when those measures should be taken--at the time of entrance to teacher preparation programs or at the end of training and at the time of certification. Another question concerns the demonstrated teaching competency of the teachers selected and…

Much of the scientific community has believed that temperament variables could not be included in batteries of tests to predict job performance because no generalized principles could be discerned from the results. For Project A, a major Army project on the prediction of job performance, a temperament inventory was developed and implemented. This…

Because a review of literature revealed that no valid instrument for measuring a person's willingness to communicate existed, a willingness to communicate (WTC) instrument was developed. The basis of this construct is the assumption that willingness to communicate is a personality-based, trait-like predisposition which is fairly consistent across…

The work of the Florida Teacher Evaluation Project was based upon the assumption that one of the most promising approaches to the improvement of student learning is through the study and modification of teacher behavior. The work has produced products in the areas of domain documents, handbooks, and manuals. This report is an extension of the…

In preparation for adding an essay test to the General Educational Development (GED) test, the GED Testing Service undertook a series of studies to establish (1) whether acceptable reading reliabilities were attainable in decentralized holistic scoring sessions often involving no more than a dozen papers; (2) whether essay readers in a variety of…