The validation of Tennessee's Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) is described. Panels of experts from teacher education institutions and local school districts performed the test item review, focusing on test validity and minimum requirements for admission to teacher education programs. Participants (136 teacher educators, 108 high school…

Research suggests that the learner is the only one who knows, intuitively, the relationship between the objectives of the evaluation and his or her actual knowledge at any given time. Experience shows that students use some form of self-assessment in the normal classroom setting. The University of Ottawa's Centre for Second Language Learning…

A study examined the scoring procedure for the second part of the modular section of the English Language Testing Service (ELTS) academic writing test. The scoring is done by external raters according to procedures and a scale specified for the test, resulting in a performance profile. The report chronicles the development of the procedures and…

The role of different types of testing instruments in second language programs is discussed. Knowledge-based tests, including discrete-point and integrative tests are contrasted with direct tests, including the Foreign Service Institute Scale and the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). The ASLPR is described in detail in terms…

Survey results have suggested that, while teachers like to have test information available, most do not have great skill or consistency in interpreting test score data. Teachers who consider a certain type of test very valuable or useful are less likely to question the accuracy of the scores than are teachers who consider a test to be of little…

A formative evaluation minimum competency test model is examined. The model systematically uses assessment information to support and facilitate program improvement. In terms of the model, four inter-related qualities are essential for a sound testing program. The content validity perspective looks at how well the district has defined competency…

This set of articles draws from a conceptual model for Hispanic mental health research developed by the Hispanic Research Center of Fordham University and describes the development and use of "Tell-Me-a-Story" (TEMAS), a new thematic apperception test for the assessment of personality functioning in ethnic minority children. An…

A project was undertaken to refine an existing self-assessment system and to develop self-paced learning modules for use in the continuing education of physician assistants (PA). Included among the major activities of the project were the following: (1) modification of the existing criterion-referenced Physician Assistant Self-Assessment…

The development and testing of an instrument for assessing dental students' attitudes toward the handicapped is presented. This instrument is easily administered (approximately 10 minutes) and scored, and possesses sound psychometric properties. Norms were derived from 826 students in 8 regionally-distributed dental schools. Content validity of…

This paper reviews 20 cross-cultural studies conducted with the Defining Issues Test (DIT). All or part of the samples in the studies were non-Americans who had not been a part of the populations presented in the DIT manual. The studies were aimed at the comparison of moral reasoning structure and development across cultures. Several aspects of…

A model of verbal performance was developed which defined cognitive processes thought to underlie performance on the Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension subtests of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The items from two forms of these ASVAB verbal subtests were rated on five conceptualized cognitive storage processes:…

A study was undertaken to (1) examine the development and construction of a Group Informal Reading Inventory to predict the reading comprehension levels (independent, instructional, and frustration) of junior high school bilingual students for the purpose of reading instruction; and (2) validate the inventory through a three-way correlational…

In order to develop a valid replacement for the difficult to administer and costly Chalk Carving Test presently used in screening Dental Laboratory Specialist (DLS) candidates, an experimental battery of perceptual tests was given to 172 prospective DLS students. Dexterity tests were also given to a subsample. Experimental laboratory ratings and…

Defining practical significance in program evaluations is a difficult measurement problem which can only be solved by an intimate familiarity with the measures on which effects are estimated and their content relationship to the program goals. Past attempts to provide general solutions to the size of effect problem have relied on standardized…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 titles include studies of an informal reading inventory; an item-type to test phonic and context skills; reliability of residual gain scores based on means for a standardized reading achievement measure; alternatives to…