The author accuses Wineburg of using intellectual shortcuts and selective presentations to support the argument against the self-fulfilling prophesy phenomenon. The prophesy does exist and is applicable to schools because it is interrelationships which hold together social systems such as schools. Teachers' beliefs have definite consequences for…

The impact of examiner/examinee familiarity and rapport on psychological test performance is reviewed. Drawing upon research involving hundreds of young handicapped and nonhandicapped children, it was found that certain handicapped children obtain higher scores when tested by familiar examiners. Implications for practice, theory, and personnel…

The effects of independent, interdependent, and dependent group contingencies in increasing spelling performance of two classes of sixth grade students were compared using an alternating treatments design. Results suggest that all three contingencies substantially improving spelling performance on daily tests. (Author/LMO)

Although single-subject research techniques are valuable to counselors, analyzing change by graphs alone is open to major sources of error. Discusses these sources and explores the issues of serial dependency, unreliability of graphs, interjudge disagreement on graphed data, and the use of time-series statistics with relevance to the counselor in…

Compared the reliability and validity of three methods of measuring students' ability to articulate their career values. Cochran's method and idiosyncratic and standardized methods developed in response to problems with the Cochran method. Test-retest reliabilities for the three methods were .33, .66, and .19, respectively. The findings suggest…

Using listening check procedures, only 2 of 21 staff members at a school for the hearing impaired reliably and accurately rated the performance of hearing aids, suggesting that educators of the hearing impaired are inadequately prepared to evaluate hearing aid performance and that a more objective means of assessment is needed. (Author/CB)

Examined the performance of ninth-grade students on the Self-Directed Search during small group administrations monitored by a counselor. Results indicated scoring errors were high in comparison to norms. The percentage of erroneous summary codes was higher while transposition errors were lower, suggesting group administration with a proctor…

This paper assessed the relationships among holistic writing ability, the Test of Standard Written English, and four tests of organizational ability. Findings showed a significant correlation between writing ability and the tests. It was concluded that tests assessing organizational strategies ought to be included in assessments of writing…

Student self-evaluation and peer evaluation are compared with traditional student assessment methods in terms of reliability and the possible effects on learning and personal development, and the results of a program of self- and peer evaluation are reported. (MSE)

When hearing raters subjectively evaluated the signed and spoken output of 25 sign language interpreters, rater agreement was between 0.52-0.86; the correlation between subjective and objective evaluation was between 0.59-0.79. Raters were unsuccessful in identifying which interpreters had deaf parents. (CB)

Reports an evaluation of six sociometric measures (social preference, social impact, peer ratings, alternative status, and positive and negative nominations) on a sample of 85 four-year-olds from three preschool and day care centers. Implications for social skills intervention are discussed. (DR)

Psychologists and educational specialists with expertise in areas related to intelligence testing responded to a questionnaire dealing with possible racial and socioeconomic bias of IQ tests. Overall, experts hold positive attitudes about the validity and usefulness of intelligence and aptitude tests. (Author/LHW)

Describes a study comparing the grading predelictions of English instructors from two- and four-year colleges. Study findings, based on grades given to a set of five themes by instructors from both settings, showed community college instructors to be a letter grade more lenient than university instructors. (DMM)

Reliability and validity were examined for three computerized case management simulations in counseling, administered to experienced counselors, and three samples representing different levels of professional training and experience. Reliability coefficients were moderately high. Significant relations were found between performance on the…

Reviews five simulation methods used in medical and health science education: oral examinations, live simulated patients, mannequins, and written and computer-based simulations. Each type of simulation is discussed relative to its fidelity, reliability, validity, learning, and feasibility. (MBR)