Basically, two different forms of the sociometric technique for assessing children's peer status exist: peer-nomination and peer-rating. Although more popular, the peer-nomination technique has several psychometric deficiencies; these limit research efforts attempting to identify correlations between peer sociometric status and other social…

The results of this study show that, below ten years of age, stability in IQ scores from group verbal tests is considerably below that for Stanford-Binet. Non-verbal IQ scores were found to have substantially less stability than verbal IQs. (Author/DEP)

The Parent Attitude toward Children's Expressiveness Scale (PACES) provides a measure of the degree of acceptance-control the respondent allows toward a child's hypothetical emotional and expressive behavior. PACES is a 20-item scale with a multiple choice format for each item. Emotional and expressive behaviors represented in PACES include anger,…

An experimental test battery consisting of several tests that measure aspects of artistic judgment was administered to over 1,600 clients of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation. The battery consisted of the Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test (VAST) of K. O. Gotz (1981); the Design Judgment Test (DJT) of M. Graves (1948); and two tests…

The major purpose of this study was to develop a reliable observation instrument to code parent-caregiver communication as it occurs when children are dropped off and picked up at day care centers. The Parent-Caregiver Communication Checklist (PCCC) was designed as an observation tool to assess informal communication between parents and caregivers…

The premise of this document is that trade instructors and incumbent workers can work together as a writing team to develop test items for vocational education. The development process used by the Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) is described as follows: (1) identify and validate a task list; (2) conduct task analysis;…

A study involving teachers and administrators from 16 elementary, middle, and high schools in Tennessee investigated the factorial structure of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS). The SDLRS includes 58 Likert-like items designed to measure the readiness of adult learners to assume self-direction in the learning process. Study…

Procedures used in Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) dissertations at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) were studied. Focus was on identifying: (1) characteristics of the research designs used; (2) sources of the instruments used to collect data; (3) reports of reliability estimates and evidence of validity of the instruments; and (4) types of…

This paper provides an overview of standardized tests and a summary of important psychometric and test construction properties that educators must consider when they make critical evaluations of standardized tests. Sections of the paper concern: (1) basic characteristics of standardized tests; (2) differences between norm-referenced and…

A comprehensive Instrument for Curriculum Evaluation (ICE) was developed to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate curriculum materials. The instrument contains 115 statements for assessing 11 aspects of curriculum: philosophy, needs assessment, theme, goals, learning objectives and standards, scope and sequence, field testing, instructor…

Attention deficits and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) are regarded as relatively common disorders among school-age children, but the literature reveals several confounding factors with the standard assessment techniques for the disorder. Using a structured thematic apperception technique (the TEMAS Apperception Test of G.…

Since 1986, the Teacher Assessment Project (TAP) at Stanford University (California) has been exploring performance-based modes of assessment that capture the complexity of the practice of teaching. After a brief description of the rating procedures, the raters, and the situated-performances designed by the TAP for assessment, this paper describes…

The Walsh and Carballo evaluation of the effectiveness of transitional bilingual education programs in five Massachusetts communities, has the following flaws: (1) the sample of school districts studied suffered from "self-selection bias"; (2) the sample does not include a single large, urban school district; (3) the student samples…

Two techniques for detecting differential item functioning (DIF) of test items are compared: (1) item response theory (IRT), using the three-parameter model; and (2) Mantel-Haenszel chi square techniques (MHCS). The steps necessary for identifying differentially functioning items are identified for both approaches. Using data from the 1988…

The interrater reliability and factor structure of colleague ratings of university faculty were studied for 46 faculty members from 4 departments within the School of Education and Allied Professions at the University of Miami (Florida). Within each department, each faculty member rated every other faculty member using two methods: (1) a global…