This paper reports the results of using a three-layer backpropagation artificial neural network to predict item difficulty in a reading comprehension test. Two network structures were developed, one with and one without a sigmoid function in the output processing unit. The data set, which consisted of a table of coded test items and corresponding…

The present study examines the influence of judges' item-related knowledge on setting standards for competency tests. Seventeen judges from different professions took a 122-item teacher-certification test in economics while setting competency standards for the test using the Angoff procedure. Judges tended to set higher standards for items they…

As part of a study of teacher evaluation of student replies to open-ended questions, a second question--the best method of determining interrater reliability--was examined. The standard method, the Pearson Product-Moment correlation, overestimated the degree of match between researchers' and teachers' scoring of tests. The simpler percent…

The relationships of science anxiety to measures of achievement, test anxiety, year of chemistry taken, and gender were investigated for high school students; the study also attemped to establish reliability data on the Czerniak Assessment of Science Anxiety (CASA) of L. Chiarelott and C. Czerniak (1987). Subjects were 101 students (45 males and…

Stability of the Early Screening Profiles (ESP), developed by P. Harrison, was examined with a sample of 23 non-handicapped preschool children (14 females and 9 males) ranging in age from 3 years 0 months to 6 years 0 months at the time of initial testing. The sample was drawn from a rural/suburban community in the midwest with a predominantly…

Observational ratings of student clinical performance are influenced by factors other than the quality of the performance. Individual raters may be more stringent or lenient than their colleagues. In this medical school setting, multiple raters evaluated each student. To reduce the influence of "error" due to differences among raters, each rater…

A tool was devised to measure the perceived reality of television, an important variable in understanding how television influences an individual's perception of social reality. This was accomplished by using a research plan that allowed university subjects to generate the measures used for tapping the "reality" of television content.…

The literature from 1973-1983 on student ratings of faculty teaching effectiveness is reviewed. Among the consistent findings over the decade are the following: high student rating scale reliability, the limited influence of instructor and student demographic variables on student ratings of teacher effectiveness, and faculty perceptions that…

The present paper represents a demonstration of how LISREL V can be used to investigate scale invariance (1) across time (its relationship to test-retest reliability), and (2) across groups. Five criteria were established to test scale invariance across time and four criteria were established to test scale invariance across groups. Using the…

An instrument for measuring telephone apprehension was developed to facilitate research into hypothesized relationships between communication apprehension and telephone apprehension. A set of 92 Likert-type items was adapted from previous communication apprehension scales and administered to 81 undergraduate students in a speech communication…

Although the consistency of personality characteristics has been identified in groups of persons studied from infancy into young adulthood, few such studies have been able to include older adults. To investigate the stability of personality and social characteristics among young-old and old-old adults, 72 adults (51 female, 21 male) from the…

A pictorial self-concept inventory for Mexican-American children was developed and validated. A primary concern was the adequate selection of pictures that would be relevant to the child's cultural background and environment. Another concern was the development of subscales which would measure the areas of sense of control, social self, academic…

In the first of these three articles, methods for reporting vocational interests which do and do not reflect sex role stereotypes are examined. The second article is a reply to problems noted in the first article, and the third article is a rebuttal by the first authors. (Author/HMV)

This text was written to help the reader acquire a base of knowledge about classical psychometrics and to integrate new ideas into that framework of knowledge. The material is organized into five units: (1) introduction to measurement theory; (2) reliability; (3) validity; (4) item analysis in test development; and (5) test scoring and…

In the past several years, numerous educational climate instruments and questionnaires have been developed. One such instrument is the Charles F. Kettering (CFK) School Climate Profile, a popular measure of school climate that is widely used to gather data for administrative planning and curriculum revision. The instrument is patterned on the…