This paper addresses the issue of whether four of the learning styles instruments currently available are of sufficient psychometric quality to warrant their continued use either for research or educational purposes. Four instruments, which purport to measure learning styles, were selected for review. Criteria for selection were based in part on…

A study investigated the use of reading proficiency scales developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Educational Testing Service (ETS), and Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) for meaningful rank-ordering and assigning levels of second language competence to reading passages. In a proficiency test writing…

Two contrasting kindergarten reading programs (book-focused and letter-focused) were chosen for a study that evaluated the ability of the Early Reading Test to probe children's knowledge of stories as well as letters, sounds, and words. The test also evaluated the kinds of strategies children use to attempt reading tasks and, through interview…

A study was conducted to explore the stability of the selected indicators of merit in relation to the explicit purposes of identifying merit schools in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public School system Design for School Excellence Program. A school could achieve merit either based on high status in achievement, attendance, and attitude, or on gain scores…

UNIACT, a major component of the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment Program, is one of the first interest inventories to employ a new technique for ensuring sex fairness in the reporting of scores. UNIACT was constructed with the goal that distributions of career options suggested to males and females would be similar. It is intended to…

The reliabilities of 6 item bias indices and correlations among them were investigated for each of the 11 tests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The difficulty and delta indices detected group differences in relative item difficulty. Biserial and point biserial indices detected group differences in item discrimination. The Scheuneman and…

This paper reviews the literatuare on projective techniques of personality assessment and their use by school psychologists. Following a brief survey of the development of projective techniques, several of the most widely used techniques are briefly discussed, i.e., the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), the Childrens Apperception Test (CAT), the…

This manual makes accessible several widely used instruments for measuring perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of classroom environment among school students and teachers. Background information, scoring procedures, validation data, and preferred and short forms of the Learning Environment Inventory, My Class Inventory, Classroom…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of out-of-level testing (OLT) when it is applied to the assessment of special education students with mild learning handicaps. This evaluation of OLT involved testing hypotheses related to: (1) the adequacy of vertical scaling, (2) the reliability and (3) the validity of OLT scores. Fifty-eight…

A project was conducted to establish the validity of a procedure and set of instruments to facilitate a more systematic approach for the continued staff development of inservice secondary and postsecondary vocational instructors in three states (Kentucky, Virginia, and Wisconsin) with different delivery systems. The population consisted of a…

Covariance structure modelling is applied to the problem of estimating reliability and measurement error in survey data. To provide a basis for grouping certain question or variable types (data from questions), a simple typology based on the formal characteristics of the questions is outlined. From this classification, models for the different…

An approach was developed based on item-response models defined at the level of salient subject groups rather than at the level of individuals, designed for use with multiple-matrix sampling designs. In each of three National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics subtopics, Reiser's group-effects latent trait model was fitted to…

A study was conducted to test four hypotheses concerning modification of student self-concept in communication courses: (1) different kinds of training affect student self-concept in different ways, (2) scale bias affects measurement of student self-concept, (3) male and female self-concepts change differently, and (4) course grade affects student…

Since the approval of the Basic Skills Improvement Policy in 1978, the Massachusetts Department of Education has been developing tests and alternative forms for the assessment of student achievement in five basic skills content areas: reading, writing, mathematics, listening, and speaking. Because of the lack of previous research on which to draw…

Early identification of children at risk for various forms of school maladaptation is critical in rural schools, where services and resources are typically limited. The present study assesses the psychometric characteristics and utility of the AML, a teacher rating scale employed in a rural region. The 11-item teacher scale yields 4 scores:…