As the present tools for assessing attitudes of white toward blacks are methodologically flawed, a Situational Attitude Scale (S.A.S.) was developed. Such a test both provides a racial context and makes psychological withdrawal difficult. Ten personal and social situations with some relevance to a racial response were created. For each situation…

To assess static balance ability in children 239 subjects (ages 5 to 9) were tested using a technique of electronic ataxiametry. Body weight displacement was measured for various postures. The scores correlated significantly with teacher's evaluation of school preparedness, basic math skills, and reading achievement in samples of normal children.…

This essay examines flaws in the standard hypothetical-deduction inquiry model and offers another quite different model of inquiry, the multiple-completing model, for use in the school classroom. In positing this new model of inquiry the assumption has been made that a pedagogical inquiry model need not necessarily be an accurate reflection of…

Reported is the 1973-1974 evaluation of a junior high school resource room model for eight educable mentally retarded (EMR) and 18 mildly educationally handicapped students. Discussed is evaluation design including performance comparison of the resource room EMR students and traditional special students (controls), comparison of absentee rates of…

This study investigates the possibility that the reinforcement strength of stimuli can be enhanced by observational learning as well as by pairing with unconditioned reinforcers. The reinforcement strengths of two candies were determined for 40 preschool children as measured by rate of response on a button pressing apparatus. The children then…

This survey of the standardized testing program summarizes the data accumulated from the most recent administration of selected instruments in October 1973. It compares these findings with information from previous years and points to a few trends and possible conclusions. Assessment of mental abilities--1973-74 is presented for grade 1, and…

This study analyzes Los Angeles City College (LACC) records for a six-semester period of students who took the Guidance Examination in fall 1970 and scored in the lowest quintile on both the vocabulary and reading sections of the examination. This score indicated that their reading level was at the eighth-grade level or lower. The students were…

This report presents an investigation of three hypotheses concerning facial expressions in young children: (1) children seem to emit the same number of changes in facial expressions when they are alone as when they are in contact with another person; (2) the number of facial expressions made when children are along, compared with when they are in…

Achievement test scores and measures of district and pupil characteristics were analyzed for all California school districts. Achievement test scores were found to be highly correlated among each other. The best single predictor of achievement scores was a measure of family poverty. Scholastic aptitude scores were not used as predictors.…

An application of the two-paramenter logistic (Rasch) model to tailored testing is presented. The model is discussed along with the maximum likelihood estimation of the ability parameters given the response pattern and easiness parameter estimates for the items. The technique has been programmed for use with an interactive computer terminal. Use…

This report provides an exploratory survey of several aspects of educational testing, with a view toward identifying discrimination against women. Two major ways in which discrimination can occur are examined in educational testing: reinforcement of sex-role stereotypes and restriction of individual choice. Major educational achievement tests are…

The plans and procedures used by four teachers in making good tests are presented, and examples are given to serve as guides. The four tests are: An Objective Achievement Test on Fifth-Grade Arithmetic; An Essay Test to Measure a Special Ability in Eighth-Grade American History; A Tenth-Grade Biology Test Especially Designed to Rank Students in…

As a measure of gender identity constancy, The Boy-Girl Identity Task was administered in both Year 1 and Year 2 of the ETS-Head Start Longitudinal Study. The instrument consists of two parallel tasks, each with five items. In Task I, a pricture and name of a girl and presented to the subjects. Items consist of hypothetical changes introduced by…

Summative evaluation data from nine of the fifteen Home Start sites is presented. The purposes of this pilot summative evaluation were to assess the Fall 1972 measurement battery and field data collection procedures, to identify entering population characteristics so minimum useable sample sizes could be computed for the Fall 1973 data collection…

This guide is intended for teachers of modern languages planning to individualize their instruction. Materials include suggestions for classroom management, and the role of the teacher and the responsibility of the student for the success of his learning program are defined. A format for creating learning activity packets will assist the teacher…