Iowa State University explored the reliability of the Educational Testing Service's Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) and an in-house tool as a good predictor of acceptable classroom performance by nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants and studied the relationship between the assistants' background characteristics and…

A theory postulating nine dimensions of effectiveness in U.S. higher education institutions was tested in an Australian sample. Findings suggest that administrators should use caution when extrapolating from results in at least the Australian context. Areas for future research are also suggested by cross-cultural comparisons. (Author/MSE)

Forty-eight elementary school teachers were studied to determine the concurrent and predictive validity of the National Teachers Examination (NTE). NTE scores, grade point averages, and American College Test scores were correlated with principal and pupil evaluations of teacher performance. Methodology is discussed. (JL)

Notes that significantly different results frequently exist between tests that purport to measure the same skill when the same child is tested on both instruments. Considers discrepancies related to examinee, examiner, examinee-examiner interactions, environment, and psychometric characteristics of the tests employed. Cites 10 major psychometric…

Developed a 24-item scale to measure Beliefs about the Consequences of Maternal Employment for Children, including beliefs about both benefits and costs. Demonstrated reliability and high convergent, divergent, and concurrent validity. Assessed sex-role traditionalism, women's employment status, work hours, age of child at which employment is…

Concludes that modified standard reading inventories may be made more useful for assessing the specific abilities and needs of disabled readers. Offers suggestions for making modifications. (FL)

Concludes that standardized tests do not always reflect children's actual reading achievement and that the tests may not measure performance on the same types of material emphasized in basal series. (FL)

Presents formulation of death acceptance involving components of confrontation and integration. Describes Klug Death Acceptance Scale to measure death acceptance and provides data on scale's reliability, validity, and suggested norms. (Author/NB)

Reports on an attempt to measure English as a Second Language (ESL) students' ability to apply reasoning in reading, using an experimental test based on Piaget's concrete operations. Suggests that the Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL) reading comprehension subtest does not measure the ability to apply reasoning in reading; therefore,…

Assessed the criterion validity of the Relational Communication Control Coding System. Undergraduates listened to audiotaped interactions of a pair they were told were husband and wife, or a counselor and client, each loaded with a symmetrical or complementary communication control pattern. Subjects' perceptions of the control patterns were…

Explored validity of new clinical test of verbal memory incorporating constructs from normal and pathological memory research, to quantify the ways examinees learn verbal material. Factor analyses of normal subjects and neurological patients indicated that verbal memory consisted of a number of component factors, reflecting learning strategy,…

Reviews the development of the Life Role Salience Scales (LRSS), which were designed to assess men's and women's personal expectations concerning occupational, marital, parental, and home care roles. Results indicate that the instrument has eight clearly defined scales demonstrating adequate convergent and discriminant validity and reliability.…

Adaptive Counseling and Therapy (ACT) is an integrative, metatheoretical model for selecting an appropriate therapeutic style based on the task-relevant development maturity of the client. The Counselor Behavior Analysis (CBA) Scale measures the central explanatory construct of ACT theory: counselor adaptability. Three studies designed to assess…

Involving 114 teachers enrolled in microcomputer staff development courses, this study was concerned with the reliability, the factorial validity, and the differential validity of the Computer Attitude Scale and its four subscales. (Author/LMO)

Ninety junior high school males and 71 undergraduates were given instruments to measure: "integrated" level, traditional locus of control and abstract reasoning. Results for the integrated scale indicate moderate to high internal consistency, insignificant correlations with locus of control, and significant and moderate correlations with abstract…