Examined the reliability and validity of a measure to evaluate social work students' field performance. Results demonstrated a consistent factor structure with excellent internal consistency; however, there was inadequate consistency between ratings of individual students in their first and second field education experiences. Scores wee…

The article examines issues related to establishing a rationale for the use of early childhood rating scales and to selecting a rating scale using such criteria as user needs, user friendliness, scale format, score interpretation, reliability, and validity. Methods of establishing the validity of a rating scale are suggested. (Author/DB)

Influences on the educational validity of examinations are reviewed. Changes occurring in approaches to standard setting are traced. A view of reliability is presented, with emphasis on assessment of project work, which often involves individual investigation and design by students. A consistency index formula for grading standards is presented.…

Argues that the original Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) test scores indicated large mismatches between the average difficulty of the textbooks used in each grade and the average ability of students in that grade. Presents a rescaling procedure to provide new, valid DRP test scores and grade equivalent scores for selecting instructional materials.…

Developed and administered Reasoning about Abortion Questionnaire (RAQ) to measure how persons view abortions. Pilot tested the RAQ on 134 college students and modified scale on basis of data. Administered revised RAQ to college students (N=230) replicating factor pattern and obtaining evidence for validity of polarity scores through structured…

Discusses the Attitude Functions Inventory (AFI), which assesses the extent to which a person's attitude fulfills each of four psychological functions. Reports findings of a study, involving 249 undergraduates, that tested the construct validity of the AFI. Suggests that the AFI provides conceptually meaningful measures of the functions of…

Tested criterion-related validity of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) performance scale with Stanford Achievement Test, Special Edition for Hearing-Impaired Students (SAT-HI). Results indicated WISC-R performance scale has adequate criterion-related validity and SAT-HI percentile ranks may provide a better metric than…

Reviews recent developments in the use of commercially available written integrity tests for employee selection. Discusses legal issues related to the use of the polygraph and integrity tests, and reviews empirical research on the reliability, criterion-related validity, construct validity, fakeability, and adverse effects of integrity tests. (TE)

Results are reported from a study which assessed the validity of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) when administered to students (N=116) who performed a competitive basketball shooting task. The IMI is a flexible assessment tool that determines subjects' levels of intrinsic motivation as an additive function of four dimensions (factors).…

While most states require standardized teacher certification tests and many require testing to enter teacher training, there is little consensus on the skill level needed for teaching or the tests' validity. Concern about high minority group failure rates has also slowed implementation of testing requirements in some states. (MSE)

Recorded performance of children (N=311) between ages of 6 and 14 by summative ratings of test-session behavior. Results indicated test-session observations were critical as cross-checks of the validity of test scores obtained during test sessions, but provided considerably less insight into children's adaptation and achievement outside the…

A study of the construction and factor validity of the Response to Child Incest Questionnaire, a self-report instrument for assessing commonly reported symptoms of adult survivors of incest, is reported. The instrument's usefulness as a pre- and post-treatment measure and further research needs are discussed. (MSE)

Comparison of results of using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist to identify mild or highly deviant behavior in 95 children (grades 3 through 6) by two regular education teachers of each child indicated little agreement between teachers. (Author/DB)

Six behavior rating scales used with children with problematic behaviors were reviewed for psychometric soundness of reliability and validity. They are: Behavior Dimensions Rating Scale; Behavior Evaluation Scale; Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher Report Form; Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale; Revised Behavior Problem Checklist;…

The evaluation of a parent-completed screening system, the Infant Monitoring Questionnaires, found: 86 percent to 91 percent agreement between classifications of infants made using standardized tests and the questionnaires, low under-screening and over-screening rates (0 percent to 11 percent), high inter-observer and test-retest agreement, and…