This study describes a computer based, performance rating information processing system, performance rating theory, and programs for the application of the theory to obtain ratings free from the effects of reviewer stringency in reviewing abstracts of conference papers. Originally, the Performance Rating (PR) System was used to evaluate the…

This paper begins with an overview of several instruments for assessing the school environment, focusing on Moos's Work Environment Scale (WES). Although the WES was designed for use in any work milieu, its 10 dimensions of work environment (involvement, peer cohesion, staff support, autonomy, task orientation, work pressure, clarity, control,…

This study gathered information on the communication skills of preservice teachers using a rating scale based on the Speech Communication Association's (SCA) newly developed list of Teacher Communication Competencies. The research focused on two questions: (1) Can raters from different backgrounds with different levels of training reliably use a…

Attitude measurement through Likert-type surveys usually provides no opportunity to assess the importance of the statements of the subjects. This study, involving 479 graduate and undergraduate students, examines the question of whether importance and agreement measures have different underlying dimensions, and examines the question of whether the…

This document is a training module designed to familiarize practicing school psychologists and school psychology students with the field of criterion-referenced measurement and recent developments within the field. The introduction gives reasons for the need for criterion-referenced testing as opposed to norm-referenced tests which include legal…

The primary purpose of this study was to devise a valid and reliable scale to assess the teaching concerns of early childhood students at various levels in their teacher training experiences. A total of 167 concerns, generated by 104 teacher trainees, their trainers, and an extensive review of the literature, were classified according to Katz's…

Because item order and salience may affect the findings of social science research, a study was conducted to determine the effect of topic salience on subject response to different item orders. In the study, 10 high salience self-esteem items were presented with 10 low salience items concerning product labels in three versions. In the first…

This teacher's edition of training materials on bilingual program planning, implementation, and evaluation focuses on testing instruments. The guide is part of a series directed at bilingual educators and intended for use in institutions of higher education and inservice teacher education programs. Training objectives, a pretest and posttest, and…

This report describes the development and norming of parallel forms of the Air Force Reading Abilities Test (AFRAT) which have been designed for Air Force use as replacements for commercial reading tests. A previous study on service applicants found considerably divergent reading grade levels (RGL's) from different commercial tests for subjects of…

This study follows a 1980 moratorium on group mental ability testing called by the district's superintendent when questions relating to the informational value and cost-effectiveness of the Otis Lennon Mental Ability Test (OLMA) were raised by the Oklahoma City Public School District. Criticisms of intelligence tests and relevant issues are…

A student-generated, self-anchoring instrument should provide a teacher with more and different information than do conventional techniques. Such an instrument was developed by students in four sections of a basic course in speech communication. Students were asked to generate statements that described teacher behaviors adapted to their needs and…

The study was concerned with the merits of functional level versus nominal level achievement testing. The reliability of test scores when students were tested at their functional levels rather than their nominal levels was examined. Motivation and frustration of students was studied during testing at their functional levels. Another goal of the…

This paper describes DATASIM, a comprehensive software package which generates simulated data for actual or hypothetical research designs. DATASIM is primarily intended for use in statistics and research methods courses, where it is used to generate "individualized" datasets for students to analyze, and later to correct their answers.…

The King Pre-Retirement Checklist (KPRC) was used to assess and compare pre-retirement planning of White to Native American respondents in 10 areas: financial, social, family cohesion, mobility/health, safety/security, productivity, time management, recreation/entertainment, ego integrity, and cognitive processing. Utilizing stratified random…