The Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale was used to compare life satisfaction reports of 80 high school students with mild mental disabilities with 80 typical students. Students with disabilities reported comparable positive levels with two exceptions: lower satisfaction with their friendships and higher satisfaction with school…

Validated a parent-based assessment of cognitive abilities of 3-year-olds, the Parent Report of Children's Abilities for 3s (PARCA3), against a standard tester-administered measure, the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, and a vocabulary checklist. Found that PARCA3 parent report and parent-administered components significantly related to…

Describes the development and validation of the 30-item Computer User Self-Efficacy (CUSE) Scale, a copy of which is appended. Topics include social cognitive theory; experience and computer self-efficacy; gender differences; and the measurement of computer self-efficacy in student computer users and its relevance to learning in higher education.…

Developed and tested the psychometric properties of the 38-item Self Description Questionnaire for Preschoolers. Found that the scale was reliable for young children, first-order and higher order confirmatory factor analysis models fit the data, and factor correlations were mostly moderate. Achievement test scores correlated moderately with…

Procedures based on latent trait models and the Rasch model are described for computation and asymptotic statistical inference for two decision consistency indexes often used in mastery or competence testing. Simulations were conducted for typical mastery testing situations to illustrate the procedures. (SLD)

Investigated test-retest reliability of the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI). Administered Form A and Form B of the TONI on two occasions 3 weeks apart to 50 students randomly selected from first and second grades. Results showed high test-retest reliability; correlation coefficients were .89 (Form A) and .83 (Form B). Found high parallel…

Variability of aided sound field thresholds (ASFTs) was examined in 30 hearing-impaired children comprising 2 age groups (5-9 and 10-14 years). Findings showed that 2 ASFTs would have to differ by more than 10 decibels across signal test frequencies to attain statistical significance. (Author/DB)

The Behavior Summarized Evaluation (BSE) measures changes in behavioral parameters in autistic children over time and treatments. Tests of reliability and validity suggest that the BSE is an acceptable tool for the assessment of autistic behaviors, is easy to handle, and is accessible to both professional and paraprofessional medicoeducative…

The paper presents an overview of 11 major models of individual learning styles comparing their elements, the populations for which they are appropriate, the reliability and validity of their instrumentation, and where they overlap and differ. (Author/DB)

Presented 33 case histories of suicidal patients to crisis workers (N=19) for ratings of short- and long-term suicide risk. Ratings revealed considerable variability raising question about reliability of such global assessments. The variability, as measured by the standard deviation, was comparable between short-term and long-term ratings.…

Reviews current educational software evaluation methods, highlights problems, and describes the York Educational Software Evaluation Scales (YESES), an alternative criterion based model. Panel evaluation used by YESES is explained and YESES results are compared with evaluations from the Educational Products Information Exchange (EPIE) to indicate…

Describes Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), new measure designed to identify the types of interpersonal problems that people experience and the level of distress associated with them before, during, and after psychotherapy. Presents psychometric data from two studies which demonstrated high internal consistency of IIP, high test-retest…

Statistical significance and "abnormality" have been used as criteria for the evaluation of intra-individual subtest score differences. Shortcomings of these criteria are identified, and improved estimates of the true score differences are suggested. The applicability of the abnormality criterion to these improved estimates is reviewed.…

Summarizes a reanalysis of the data from an investigation of a test designed to measure a learning sequence in geometry based on the work of van Hiele (1986). Discusses the test based on the Rasch model. (YP)

Focuses upon three current issues in educational evaluation. Looks at the limitations of examinations and the interpretation of results in considering reliability and validity. Discusses grading and context of learning relative to formative and summative assessment. Deals with cultural background when exploring uniformity of testing versus…