Two levels of the Students' Attitudes Toward the Mentally Handicapped (SAMH) inventory were developed and administered to fourth and seventh graders (N=306). Results suggested that internal reliability estimates of responses on subscales and total scale were acceptable; the SAMH was useful in assessing student attitudes toward mentally handicapped…

A current study of major changes in the behavioral science curriculum in a family practice residency is reported. The survey instrument appears to be highly reliable for assessing graduates' perspectives on specific aspects of residency training in the behavioral sciences. (MLW)

The 15 components used for assessment in an introductory psychology course were examined to determine their relative value as predictors of overall performance. Multiple-choice tests were consistently found to be more effective than essay examinations, but arguments are presented for the retention of essays, with suggestions for their improvement.…

Describes a study which submitted data from a multiple-choice English as a second language reading comprehension test to classical test theory item analysis and latent trait measurement. The purpose was to identify weak items and to compare the number of weak items indicated by the two different approaches. (SED)

A study of the comparability of results of two techniques of testing, the traditional approach and that of giving the students the questions before the examination, revealed little difference in the two approaches' results, and supports the use of "prior notice" to reduce test anxiety. (MSE)

A new instrument designed to assess perceptions and attitudes toward proposal development and funding was administered to 416 American Educational Research Association members. The instrument demonstrated good scaling properties and high internal consistency. Discriminations beyond the chance level were obtained on both sex and proposal…

Discusses the characteristics of three popular readability formulas: the Dale-Chall, the Fry Graph, and the Spache. Describes text based and reader/text based alternatives. Offers appropriate applications of each form of assessment. (FL)

This essay addresses issue of uniformity or consistency in application of subject headings--as distinct from consistency among headings--to books on any given topic. Discussion covers purpose of subject headings or descriptors, reliability of choices made by catalogers when assigning subject headings, and card and online catalogs. (18 references)…

The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to 72 upper-level and graduate students. Item-responses were intercorrelated and subjected to factor analyses. Support was obtained for the three hypothesized factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. (Author/GDC)

Students' initiating behaviors, teachers' verbal feedback, and students' available response opportunities were studied in 63 classrooms in relation to student race, sex, and grade level, using a modified Brophy-Good Observation System. Results indicated that male students initiate more positive and negative interactions with teachers than do…

The reliability of criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) used in health program evaluation can be conceptualized in different ways. Formulas are presented for estimating appropriate standard error of measurement (SEM) for CRTs. The SEM can be used in computing confidence intervals for domain score estimates and for a cut-score. (Author/LMO)

Medical students' performance on simulated patient practical examinations were compared to faculty ratings of the surgical clerks and awards of honor ratings. Faculty ratings were correlated with objective measures of the criteria on the exams. The performance of honor, versus non-honor students was higher on the practical exam. (Author/GDC)

Two studies examining the effect of grade inflation on the piling up of grades in fewer grade categories and on the reliability of grade point averages found that reliability suffered significantly only in graduate study in which almost all grades were in two categories, A and B. Some other small effects were found in different rating scales. (MSE)

Demonstrating good reliability for the difference score in measurement, the results of this study indicate that the difference score is often highly reliable when the correlation between true change and true initial status is nonnegative. In general, when individual differences in true change are appreciable, the difference score shows strong…

An experiment testing the reliability of student self-evaluation is reported, and issues in using grades as incentives and in measuring academic achievement objectively are discussed, emphasizing the qualitative aspects of achievement as well as the quantitative. (MSE)