The arbitrariness and logical inconsistency of the educational expense deductions allowed under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 are illustrated in a series of contrasting holdings. Professional education, professional development, employee-paid education, and career change education are considered. (MSE)

The relative efficacy of content-appropriate, orally administered true/false and multiple-choice testing was examined with retarded adolescents. Both approaches demonstrated utility and psychometric adequacy. Implications regarding test development for retarded students are briefly discussed. (Author)

A 40-item Likert type attitude scale was developed and validated for students, ages 13-18. It contains four distinct subscales of attitude toward technology and technologists, careers in industry, technical education, and technology as a new school subject. The scale is appended (f=fiche number). (CP)

Evaluations were made of 46 mentally retarded residents (mean age=18.32 years) in a central Ohio state institution using part one of the American Association on Mental Deficiency's Adaptive Behavior Scale. A significant overall setting effect was not revealed in the multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures. (Author)

Analysis of variance methods were used to investigate the reliability of scores on open ended items in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The study was designed to determine their stability over seven different scorers and time of scoring during a three-month interval. (Author/CTM) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in…

Two estimation procedures for the Rasch Model of test analysis are reviewed in detail, particularly with respect to new developments that make the more statistically rigorous conditional maximum likelihood estimation practical for use with longish tests. (Author/JKS)

Multiple-choice tests composed entirely of two-, three-, or four-choice items were investigated. Results indicated that number of alternatives per item was inversely related to item difficulty, but directly related to item discrimination. Reliability and standard error of measurement of three-choice item tests was equivalent or superior.…

Construct validity of the six scales of the Career Development Inventory was investigated with 312 tenth-grade students. The subscales were found to demonstrate adequate discriminant validity except for certain cognitive subscales. (Author/CP)

Test-retest correlations can lead to biased reliability estimates when there is instability of true scores and/or when measurement errors are correlated. Using three administrations of the Test of Standard Written English and essay ratings, an analysis is demonstrated which separates true score instability and correlated errors. (Author/BW)

School counselors need to understand survey methodology even if they do not use it as research practitioners. Counselors can be better consumers of survey research by noting response rates, sampling techniques, reliability and validity in research articles. (JAC)

This paper elaborates on the work of Cardinet, and others, by clarifying some points regarding calculations, specifically with reference to existing computer programs, and by presenting illustrative examples of the calculation and interpretation of several generalizability coefficients from a complex six-facet (factor) design. (Author/RL)

Generalizability theory provides the teacher and the researcher with a flexible method for establishing reliability coefficients in tests. This theory is effective in estimating reliability for a set of motor performance test scores. (CJ)

A direct comparison was made of the reliability and validity of the standard Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) to a recent longer version of the task (MFF20) with 76 learning disabled children (7 to 12 years old). The N. Salkind and J. Wright (1977) formulation was used to generate continuous data, and IQ was statistically controlled. (Author)

Reliabilities and concurrent validities of teacher-made multiple-choice and true-false tests were compared. No significant differences were found even when multiple-choice reliability was adjusted to equate testing time. (Author/MH)

Enactment of PL 94-142 requires that outcomes of special education programs and related service programs be determined on a regular basis. The problem of aggregation of criterion-referenced test data for special service program outcome evaluation and the strengths and weaknesses of several alternative solutions are examined. (Author)