Computer-based instruction could have considerable impact on improving the quality of science education. Simulations and interactive problems provide a means for students to explore scientific concepts and experiment without the expense or hazard of using actual materials. This paper focuses on the instructional design process as it relates to the…

Traditional methods of job and task analysis may be categorized as worker-oriented methods focusing on general human behaviors performed by workers in jobs or as job-oriented methods focusing on the technologies involved in jobs. The ability of both types of traditional methods to identify, understand, and communicate the skills needed in high…

This paper reports 20 unsolved problems in educational measurement and points toward what seem to be promising avenues of solution. The first group of concerns involves validity, posing the problems of obtaining suitable validity criteria, determining and measuring the predictor variables that best characterize the traits and proficiencies of…

The Arabic Picture Vocabulary Test (APVT) was derived from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test in order to provide an estimate of a student's acquired verbal ability in Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic) through his or her aural vocabulary. It is an individually administered norm-referenced power test for students aged 5 to 9 plus years. Each item…

In recent assessments, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has permitted schools to exclude some students with disabilities or limited English proficiency because it believed that its assessments would not accurately measure the ability and achievement levels of these students. The exclusion of a portion of students from…

This study assessed the ability of high school advanced placement history students to choose the essay topic on which they can get the highest score. A second, equally important, question was whether the score on the chosen topic was more highly related to other indicators of proficiency in history than the score on the unchosen topic. Overall,…

This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that items of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) containing reference to American people, places, customs, etc., tend to favor examinees who have spent some time living in the United States. Two samples of examinees were drawn from the March 1987 TOEFL administration, one tested in…

Most seasoned test developers recognize the importance of thoughtful decision making when constructing a test. Unfortunately, many classroom achievement tests are created by novice test developed who have not received sufficient instruction in item writing (G. Gulliksen, 1986; R. J. Stiggins, 1991). The result is often a test that is poorly…

This research report explores the extent to which the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) (Harms and Clifford, 1980) remains a valid instrument when used to make cross-national comparisons of quality, and the advantages and disadvantages of using ECERS for this purpose. ECERS was developed to be used by a trained observer to rate the…

An initial study of the revised (1985) Student Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) of the College Board found it to be of sufficient accuracy to fulfill its intended purposes. This second phase examined the adequacy of the SDQ in terms of the predictive validity of its student academic self-report information against a criterion of first-year college…

The aim of this study was to construct and validate a biographical inventory to measure personality traits that are predictive of leadership. The experimental inventory, consisting of tentative scales for Dominance, Emotional Stability, Need for Achievement, Self-Confidence, and Sociability, was administered to 642 incoming midshipmen at the Naval…

The Internal/External (I/E) Frame of Reference Model and the structure of students' self-concept in various academic subjects were examined using 195 Grade 10 Chinese students in Hong Kong. Results of structural equation analyses supported the following: (1) the distinction between Chinese and English as two independent academic subjects (rather…

A study was undertaken at California's Riverside Community College District to determine predictors of grades and success rates in a first-semester general chemistry course. Fall 1996 course outcomes were analyzed for two groups of students: 137 who had completed the course, successfully or not, and 178 who had dropped it. Data were also collected…

Starting in the late 1980s, two teams of researchers, well known for their criticism of standardized tests on equity and validity grounds, began attacking standardized testing on efficiency grounds as well, using cost-benefit analysis to do it. Their analyses are reviewed, and their conclusions discussed. The first team, Lorrie A. Shepard, Amelia…

The Bean and Metzner Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition Model appeared to be a good model to address community college student attrition because it takes into account the environmental variables that colleges must consider to enhance persistence. A study was conducted to determine how well the Bean and Metzner Model fit with community…