This study describes the influence of social desirability on Rokeach Dogmatism scores and demonstrates how misleading self-report inventories can be. Dogmatism instruments with instructions suggesting either that commitment or control of personal beliefs is desirable were randomly distributed to 20 anonymous elementary teachers before a workshop…

This explanatory booklet and the materials that accompany it have two major purposes. The first purpose is to provide local school officials information regarding the performance on basic skills achievement of each student who took the 1972-73 Michigan Educational Assessment Battery. The second purpose is to provide local officials with…

The success of objectives-based programs depends to a considerable extent on how effectively students and teachers assess mastery of objectives and make decisions for future instruction. While educators disagree on the usefulness of criterion-referenced tests the position taken in this monograph is that criterion-referenced tests are useful, and…

In considering the apparent failure of the two major compensatory education programs, Project Head Start and Title I, there are so many uncontrolled variables interacting simultaneously that it is virtually impossible to define the specific etiological factors engendering the results obtained. The Federal programs are difficult to evaluate because…

A re-analysis of the Situational Attitudes Scale (SAS) was conducted to investigate its generality, validity and reliability and to suggest a more conservative method of analyzing the data. Three forms of the SAS were developed under the name Situational Attitude Inventory. Forms A and B corresponded to the originals; they tested attitudes toward…

Evaluation roles used in the Department of Research and Development in the Cincinnati Public Schools are identified and described. These include: project evaluator, local-school evaluator, independent program evaluator, external evaluator and external auditors. The merits of each evaluation role will be discussed as to its relationship with…

The Opinion Attitude and Interest Survey (OAIS), a multi-dimensional personality and interest inventory, provides 14 scales which furnish information pertinent to the admission and counseling of college bound students. The validity of the Academic Promise Scales and two of the Psychological Adjustment Scales was investigated, as was the…

This review summarizes the major criticisms of standardized tests and testing and attempts an evaluation of the validity of the criticisms. Viewed in the context of type of test, manner of its use, and assumptions regarding its validity, the paper discusses: (1) the imperfect-prediction problem, where predictions of performance are invalidated by…

This is a selected compilation of 47 items relating to criticisms of tests and testing. The items cover the period of ten years immediately preceding the year 1966 and are held to be scholarly writings almost without exception. The books and articles listed carry extensive annotations and focus on the following aspects of tests and testing:…

It has been hypothesized that personality needs have a significant impact upon eventual occupational placement. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) was designed to provide researchers in Career development with a quick and convenient measure of a number of relatively independent personality variables, or needs. It gauges 15 such needs…

In Piaget's developmental psychology the fourth and highest stage of human cognitive development is that of formal operations. The research on formal thought instruments is outlined. This study was designed to construct and validate paper-and-pencil instruments which could be used to select students capable of abstract conceptualization,…

Developed specifically for the ETS-Head Start Longitudinal Study, the ETS Enumeration I and II Test is designed to measure early numerical ability. Enumeration I tests the ability to itemize each member of a set by using a task that requires neither counting nor reciting the names of numerals. The purpose of the task is to assess the child's…

The paper contains a discussion of the modification of Rotter's Internal External Scale into the three scales of Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance orientations. The tripartite, multidimensional view of locus of control was developed because the validity and usefulness of Rotter's lumping expectancies of fate, chance, and powerful others…

This publication, the first of two volumes, describes the cognitive, psychomotor, and socioemotional measures used in all years of the Head Start Planned Variation Evaluation. Part I discusses generally the issues involved in evaluating the quality of the data, and summarizes findings. Part II contains technical reports on 12 of the individual…

Three common methodological problems in the analysis of observational data include: (1) failure to base degrees of freedom for the analysis on the appropriate sampling unit; (2) the validity of the design and data are inconsistent with the generalizations reached; (3) the statistic used to calculate coder reliability is often inappropriate and…