Questions arising in research and evaluation are more complicated in the area of early childhood education because of the vagaries of measurement with very young children and the occurrence of rapid changes during the early years. (Authors/MB)

Scales are developed to replace the difficult to administer and score Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) affiliation scales. Functional relationships between such variables as affiliative behavior, conformity behavior, and dependency and affiliative tendency and sensitivity to rejection are educed. (DG)

Two studies analyze and evaluate the use of the chunk," a small group of meaningfully related words within a sentence, as a test item in reading and listening tests. (PR)

The validity of various reliability-corrected procedures for adjusting for initial differences between groups in uncontrolled studies is established for subjects exhibiting linear fan-spread growth. The results are then extended to a nonlinear model of growth. (Author)

A 10 item Attitudes Toward Computers instrument was developed to measure the attitudes of students toward the use of computers. A factorial validity study revealed one identifiable factor dimension entitled General Attitude Toward Computers with an estimated alpha internal consistency reliability of .87. (Author/PN)

Based on the responses of 50 ESL instructors to a composition-scoring exercise, a detailed method of scoring compositions was developed that divides the writing into basic components (structure, content, vocabulary, organization, and mechanics) and provides a scoring mechanism for each component for each of three competency levels. (MSE)

Reports the development of a scale for evaluating family therapist skills. All items discriminated significantly between videotaped segments of effective and ineffective family therapist skills and between experienced and inexperienced family therapists. Interrater reliability and internal consistency of the categories were acceptable. The scale…

Studied instruments which measure well-being, life satisfaction, and morale, for structural stability across age and gender in two samples of adults and older adults. Analysis showed four factors that defined dimensions underlying these measures which were constant across age and gender. (WAS)

This study investigated the effects of specific criteria for marking a test on its reliability and validity. Eight algebra word problems were administered to grade 10 students. The objectivity of scoring criteria improved the reliability of the test, but did not affect its validity. (MNS)

Each of six forms of a 10-item teacher evaluation rating scale, having two to seven response categories per form, was administered to over 100 college students. Means of item responses and item variances increased with the number of response categories. Internal consistency of total scores did not change systematically. (Author/PN)