Investigates the validity of the Reading Anxiety Scale. Finds that (1) reading anxiety shows a stronger negative correlation with reading achievement than does general anxiety; and (2) although general anxiety and reading anxiety correlate substantially, reading anxiety measures something beyond general anxiety. (RS)

Evaluates external and diagnostic validity of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf Writing Test. Supports its external validity but does not support the diagnostic validity of this and other writing tests of the same basic design. (SR)

Investigated reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Career Attitude Scale (CAS), a new instrument for the measurement of career self-efficacy. Three-phase study using college students as subjects supported construct validity of CAS. Hypothesized relationships between CAS scores and measures of self-esteem and general self-efficacy were…

Assessment reforms might fail because high stakes will be attached to them too soon, judgments will be unreliable, and lawsuits will occur. Educators need to consider technical issues including score reliability, task validity, portfolio sampling, and generalizability problems. U.S. schools would improve considerably if national Advanced Placement…

Six interest measures and 15 ability measures were administered to 2,101 high school seniors in 19 vocational-technical schools. Computer-based score interpretation would have referred approximately 80 percent of satisfied/successful students to job cluster containing vocational program they completed. Results indicated that computer-based…

This study compared dexterity scores using the Vocational Transit Test System and bench assembly work productivity in 30 adults with mild mental retardation. Moderately high correlations were found between work output and motor coordination, manual dexterity, finger dexterity (with and without assembly), and total dexterity score. Finger dexterity…

The validity of the subscales of the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior in an institutional population was examined by correlating these scores with the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist, and programmatic measures. Results support previous research on Reiss total score validity, though…

This study evaluated the external validity of a measure of IQ subtest variability, the profile variability index (PVI), with a sample of 146 children referred for psychological testing. Correlation of PVIs on each intelligence test with achievement scores and indexes of discrepancy between actual and predicted scholastic achievement found…

Describes a revision of the Names Test, an easy-to-administer phonics assessment. Describes what was done to increase the test's category reliability, to further examine the test's validity, and to enhance its usability. (SR)

The original MMPI was criticized as being invalid with minority populations. When the revised MMPI-2 was administered to 400 Mexican American and Anglo American college students, the groups differed significantly on most content scales and several validity and clinical scales. However, absolute score differences were not so large as to preclude…

Discusses one attempt to find innovative answers for questions regarding advanced English-as-a-Second-Language writing-placement testing. (MG)

Study of metacognition in reading examined the psychometric properties of the Index of Reading Awareness. To determine reliability and validity data, researchers administered it to elementary students along with the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised. They concluded that it should be used cautiously to measure metacognition in reading. (SM)

Developed Death Anxiety Scale for Children (DASC), instrument to explore children's responses to death and dying. Constructed scale of neutral and anxiety producing words. Established validity by reading words to children and recording galvanic skin response, response time, and pulse rate. Found that children responded with greater skin resistance…

A 230-item Task-Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES) was administered to 113 psychology and 88 journalism undergraduates, and analysis of the scale's psychometric characteristics were performed. Comparison with Betz and Hackett's OSES supported the feasibility and utility of a task-specific measure. (SK)

Examined validity of Microcomputer Evaluation Screening and Assessment (MESA) aptitude scores relative to General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) using multitrait-multimethod correlational analyses. Findings from 54 rehabilitation clients and 29 displaced workers revealed no evidence to support the construct validity of the MESA. (Author/NB)