The AAMD-Becker Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory is a non-reading vocational preference test for use with mentally retarded persons, particularly the educable mentally retarded at the high school level. Illustrations having occupational significance are presented in forced-choice format for selections. The instrument helps to identify…

Four experiments were designed to identify socioeconomic differences in preschool locus of control, develop a measurement technique for differentiating between internal and external locus of control in preschoolers, and study the effect of four kinds of preschool programs on locus of control. During the first experiment, the Stephens-Delys…

Six current issues in the use of tests are examined in this paper. Are the tests used in education valid? In general and to a reasonably satisfactory extent they are. Is the emphasis these tests place on cognitive achievements a serious limitation? Because of the basic and pervasive role of cognition in human affairs, and in the absence of any…

This paper deals with measurement of language dominance at the early-childhood level using a rating scale to help bilingual programs with student classification and placement. Some of the assumptions unique in the measurement of language dominance are discussed and applied to the validation procedure on a Spanish/English language dominance scale…

This brief, filed by Educational Testing Service (ETS), a non-profit educational corporation, deals with whether Test 21, a test of verbal ability developed by the U.S. Civil Service Commission and used by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia to select police recruits, is sufficiently job-related to be legally permissible…

A step-by-step method for designing and improving evaluation methods is presented for educators who are in the position of evaluating an educational gathering of adults. This method is to insure that evaluation instruments are: (1) accurate enough to provide valid data; (2) short enough to be filled out by a large group of evaluators in a hurry to…

The Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES), Phase II, was a research project on effective teaching behavior--what teachers do that significantly affects what and how pupils learn. The purposes of Phase II were to (1) develop an assessment system for measuring teacher and pupil behaviors and other factors which could influence each of them and…

The effects of the protocol film series, Concepts and Patterns in Teacher-Pupil Interaction, were measured by a film-based test after the test had undergone validation. The test, Categorizing Teacher Behavior, evidenced a high level of reliability and validity in a graduate level course in educational psychology. The test was judged valid by a…

Although over 100 million tests are administered each year and testing is a subject of increasing contention among students, faculty members remain diffident. A better understanding of the purpose and structure of evaluating mechanisms is a prerequisite for widespread improvement. Teachers must understand what factors play a part in measuring…

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measure of teacher value systems. Three value systems were defined as values associated with (1) the pursuit of truth, (2) social and interpersonal relations, and (3) authority and its exercise. The scale was taken through three stages of development and field…

The measurement difficulties of experiential learning arise because assessment is often individualized, off-campus learning experiences are not well structured or defined and paper-and-pencil tests are often inappropriate measurement devices. The assessment process requires quality control to assure that it can accurately indicate whether learning…

Because of the developmental characteristics of young children, the potential user of tests for educational evaluation needs to be keenly alert to the kinds of decisions which can be made on the basis of testing and to the limitations of testing when young children serve as subjects. The choice of a test to be used will depend on the type of…

Topics covered in these essays on testing in high school English are (1) the need for major literature tests to determine not factual recall but whether students are growing into rational and humane persons through their experiences with English; (2) the usefulness of pre-tests and re-tests, and the need to emphasize tests as a means of…

Positive values inherent in well-planned tests used in language programs are discussed in this article. The author argues that the problems of dropout rate, underachievement, discipline, and negative student attitudes can be alleviated through testing programs which include: (1) an aptitude test for selecting and sectioning students and for…

To investigate the assertion that there is a tendency for teachers to emphasize skills already mastered by their students, data were collected on 488 seventh grade mathematics students in three junior high schools. Of these, 285 were assigned to experimental classes taking the curriculum under development and 203 were assigned to comparison…