As part of the development of a battery of tests to determine proficiency in black standard and nonstandard speech, a test, consisting of 20 items involving verbal and pictorial cues, was developed and administered to 27 third graders and 32 sixth graders. Results were analyzed to determine test reliability and correlation with other test scores.…

The pilot study, limited to 37 beginning shorthand students at Memphis State University, was an attempt to develop a "credit by examination" instrument. (MW)

Possible integrated and independent tasks were pilot tested for the writing section of a new generation of TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign Language™) examination. This study examines the impact of various rating designs as well as the impact of the number of tasks and raters on the reliability of writing scores based on integrated and…

This study addresses the sample error and linking bias that occur with small and unrepresentative samples in a non-equivalent groups anchor test (NEAT) design. We propose a linking method called the "synthetic function," which is a weighted average of the identity function (the trivial equating function for forms that are known to be…

The Gesell School Readiness Screening Test (GSRST) is widely used to identify "developmentally immature" children for placement in extra-year, transition programs in spite of a problematic absence of psychometric evidence and research support. In this study of psychometric characteristics of the GSRST, teacher ratings of classroom…

This study evaluated the effect of training on improving the reliability of the peer review process by determining whether or not training made a difference in the variability among reviewers' scores and documentation provided to support the scores. Different levels of training were provided for participants in the peer review process who were…

J. M. Richards (1989) has demonstrated that when individuals' reports about environments are aggregated to create environmental measures, the use of coefficient alpha to estimate single occasion reliability can be misleadingly elevated and that alpha cannot distinguish an environmental measure from a "disguised measure of individual…

Retention of pupils results in a need for additional teachers, facilities, and materials at a rate approximating the rate of retention. Retention is a more serious problem for the state, which needs to pay most of these increased costs. This paper reviews the research evidence to assess the cost-effectiveness of student retention policies.…

A study addressed issues of concern in the use of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)/Educational Testing Service (ETS) Language Proficiency Guidelines commonly used in determination of oral language proficiency. Specifically, potential discrepancies between the judgments of trained raters and "naive" native…

A sample of 212 urban, black mothers and their 8- through 12-year-old children responded to questionnaires about the frequency of potentially stressful life events experienced by the children and the feelings the children had when the events took place. A 49-item questionnaire addressed childen's concerns regarding the stress categories of home…

The study compared maternal and trained observer evaluations of infant temperamental characteristics, to determine how closely the ratings correspond, and to analyze the impact of maternal drug abuse habits on maternal ratings of infant temperament. In relating observer to maternal ratings of infant temperament, seven dimensions were compared:…

The Listening Summary Translation Exam (LSTE)-Spanish is designed to assess the ability to comprehend and summarize in written English recorded conversations spoken in Spanish. Language and topics of the exam are representative of conversations the Federal Bureau of Investigation routinely monitors. This test consists of two subtests, one…

The original norms for the 40-item Stress Response Scale (SRS) were established on children aged 5-14 years and are reported by age and gender. While the norm group age range is appropriate for the clinical screening intent of the instrument, it is restrictive for studies that might examine the effects of stress on secondary school children or as…

The measurement integrity of M. A. Rahim's Organizational Conflict Inventory (ROCI-II) and D. M. Roussel's Managerial Frames of Mind Survey (MFMS) was investigated, as was the relationship between scores on the two measures. Subjects were 369 managers from three types of organizations: (1) higher education; (2) not-for-profit public sector…