The purpose of this test is to evaluate a non-native speaking student's speaking knowledge of the basic structures of English, using the most frequently used words in the English Language. The test does not attempt to determine vocabulary level or student's ability to learn vocabulary effectively, rather the test focuses exclusively on aural/oral…

An issue facing researchers who study very select populations is how to obtain reliability estimates on instruments. When the populations and resulting samples are very small and select, the ability to obtain reliability estimates becomes very difficult. As a result, many researchers ignore reliability concerns and forge ahead with data…

The refinement process of a survey instrument developed to operationalize the construct of organizational climate by identifying and describing the dimensions of middle-level school climate is described in this paper. Seven dimensions of organizational climate were identified: administrative support, administrative control, teacher intimacy,…

The purpose of this study is to examine an option-weighting method as it affects pass-fail decisions in formative and summative evaluation of student achievement for instructional units, certification, advancement, licensure, admissions, placement, and selection. A database was constructed using high school achievement test data where a…

The authors present a quick and simple procedure for observing four behaviors relevant to classroom management: student disruption, student attention, and the teacher's use of both positive and negative events. The procedure utilizes paraprofessionals as raters and is validated by high interrater reliabilities. (Author/EJT)

In coping with the problems that have arisen from the rulings of the Supreme Court on equal employment opportunities, a preemployment test was devised that combined miniature job training with tests which are content relevant to all who are tested. (RK)

Research on the reliability of various measures of interviewing skills used an experimental design involving patient interviews of medical students in their sophomore and senior years. Results suggest caution against overinterpretation of data from faculty raters and illustrate that nonprofessionals can be trained to use interaction analysis…

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…