Four mathematics test-item types that may perform differently when calculators are used were assessed using data from 160 high school students attending a summer enrichment program. The effects of testing with and without calculators on testing time, test reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination were also assessed. (TJH)

A study compared student evaluations made by residency directors and deans in 2 medical schools, using 3 standard methods of ranking 20 students per school. Ordinal ranking showed substantial agreement for 15 of 16 residency directors. Two methods of clustering into fixed groups gave high agreement only for top students. (Author/MSE)

This article describes the Course Experience Questionnaire, a student evaluation of teaching performance. The article discusses the instrument's theoretical basis, statistical qualities, and national trials in Australian higher education. The questionnaire is seen to offer a reliable, verifiable, and useful means of evaluating teaching quality in…

Twenty students and 45 adults with visual impairments or blindness were administered a test of tactile concentration and short-term memory involving the reproduction of the order of finger stimulation using the Finger Knocking Box. Reliability and validity scores indicated encouraging results with use of the instrument. (JDD)

Analysis of spontaneous language samples of 10 children (ages 8-9) with specific language impairments found that interviews were a reliable, valid, and efficient assessment context, eliciting the same profile of behaviors as a freeplay context without altering diagnostic classifications. (Author/JDD)

The visual acuity of 8 children, aged 2-7, with low vision and multiple handicaps was effectively tested using the Teller Acuity Cards and a preferential-looking procedure with operant modification. This inexpensive procedure was found to be suitable for at-home testing by itinerant vision specialists in developing countries or rural areas. (DB)

Cognitive holding power is defined as a characteristic of the learning setting that presses students into different kinds of cognitive activity. Development of an instrument to measure cognitive holding power and studies of the instrument's reliability with over 1,500 Australian technical college students are reported. (SLD)

A set of Q-sort items to assess individual differences in infant-mother attachment was adapted for a Hispanic population of low-SES background. Completion of the Q-sort by observers and inner-city Hispanic mothers and testing of 43 infants with the Ainsworth Strange Situation established the Q-set's validity and indicated moderate reliability for…

Use of portfolios and performance tasks has exponentially increased as educators seek to be as "fair" as possible, and to link measurement, assessment, and evaluation more closely to cognition, curriculum, and instruction. However, high standards of reliability and validity are equally essential in the use of "authentic"…

Results from a survey of 62 students (ages 8-13) with mild mental retardation and 62 students without retardation indicated that high percentages of both groups understood what loneliness means; a loneliness questionnaire yielded satisfactory internal reliability; and boys but not girls with mental retardation reported more loneliness than did…

Effects of item wording on questionnaire reliability and validity were studied, using 280 undergraduate business students who completed a questionnaire comprising 4 item types: (1) regular; (2) polar opposite; (3) negated polar opposite; and (4) negated regular. Implications of results favoring regular and negated regular items are discussed. (SLD)

An approach is presented to the definition of minimal competence for judges to use in standard setting. Panelists in standard setting must receive training to ensure that differences in rating result from differences in perceptions of item difficulty, not in differences of opinion about the definition of minimal competence. (SLD)

The reliability and validity of the Working with Young Children and Their Families instrument were tested with 101 of 192 occupational therapists surveyed. The form proved to be a reliable way of measuring the outcome of workshops to improve therapists' competence in working with families of children with special needs. (SK)

The Children's Sex Role Inventory was tested on third, fourth, sixth, and seventh graders. Reliability was established through internal consistency of femininity and masculinity scales and stable test-retest reliabilities. Validity of the scales was evident in gender differences on both scales. (BC)

The construct validity of hypothesized survey items and data reduction procedures for selected psychosocial constructs frequently used in breast cancer screening research were investigated in telephone interviews with randomly selected samples of 1,184 and 903 women and a sample of 169 Hispanic clinic clients. Validity of the constructs is…