The literature on issues of the reliability and validity of objective and performance assessments in vocational education and training was reviewed and synthesized to develop guidelines for procedures to enhance reliability and validity. The review established the following facts: (1) validity is determined largely through inferences made by both…

This article describes the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition, an assessment designed to test preschool children in vocabulary acquisition, screen both for giftedness and mental retardation, and measure English language proficiency in individuals for whom English is not a primary language. Its administration, standardization,…

This article describes the Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery, an instrument designed to assess the abilities and achievements of individuals ages 4 through 90 in the areas of basic reading skills, reading comprehension, phonological awareness, oral language comprehension, and reading aptitude. Its administration, standardization, reliability,…

This article describes the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Revised/Normative Update, an instrument designed to assess reading ability in students in grades K-12, undergraduate college students, and adults. The tests evaluate basic reading skills, reading comprehension, and reading readiness. Its administration, standardization, reliability, and…

This study presents the conceptualization and subsequent model fit analysis of a retention model for Latino/a students at urban commuter universities. The three institutions involved in the study represent different environments for Latino/a students. Two are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and the third represents a predominantly White…

Context: Various research studies have examined the question of whether expert or non-expert raters, faculty or students, evaluators or standardized patients, give more reliable and valid summative assessments of performance on Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Less studied has been the question of whether or not non-faculty…

Having made "continuous improvement" the theme of its accreditation process a decade ago, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is poised to make "assurance of learning" the current focus of the faculty/student exchange. In this article, the authors discuss how to use standardized assessment tests…

Although accurate assessment of bullying is essential to intervention planning and the evaluation of bullying prevention programs, assessment has been called the "Achilles' heel" of bullying research (Cornell, Sheras, & Cole, 2006). Problems have been cited about variations in definitions and time frames used, whether or not to…

The primary purpose of this study was the naturalistic assessment of growth in oral English proficiency of Hispanic American limited English proficient (LEP) students in a paired reciprocal learning format. Subjects were fifth-grade students in a summer English-as-a-Second-Language class. Twelve students in a paired learning format and 12 in a…

Two studies concerning the self-regulated learning of graduate students are reported. In the first, the responses of 96 graduate students in education to an inventory of self-regulated learning were compared to those of 294 undergraduates previously assessed. It was found, contrary to expectation, that the graduate students scored lower on the…

This study assessed how some key measurement issues were considered in the context of a specific integrated reading and writing assessments conducted at each of seven grade levels in the Riverside (California) Unified School District. Data are reported for the following parameters: (1) test reliability; (2) test validity; (3) scoring; (4) scaling;…

Since 1988 the Vermont Department of Education has been developing an innovative statewide performance assessment program. In 1990, the RAND Corporation began evaluating the Vermont assessment program, focusing specifically on the portfolio component of its assessment system. This report presents results from the evaluation in the 1992-93 school…

In the first report, dated August 1991, assessment of three language tests is reported. The tests were developed and are used as part of a Los Angeles Unified School District (California) program to teach mainstream American English (MAE) to speakers of African American Language (AAL). The tests include a writing assessment (grades 3-6) and two…

Writing encompasses a wide range of skills, from the mechanics of punctuation and spelling to the systematic or even creative development of ideas. The higher order skills of communication necessarily involve critical thinking and problem solving, and an assessment of the writing of advanced students will be able to encompass these other higher…

This monograph describes Project START (Support To Affirm Rising Talent), a three-year collaborative research effort to develop and apply gifted identification procedures based on Howard Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences. Specifically, the study attempted to: (1) develop identification procedures; (2) identify high-potential…