Reports on the steps undertaken and the discoveries made by the English department of Illinois State University in its development of a valid, reliable measure of student competency in freshman composition. (HOD)

The intraclass reliability of an oral examination administered during a clinical clerkship was analyzed in three ways: by traditional estimation, by faculty evaluation of taped examinations, and with use of a new evaluation form. A noticeable increase in reliability was found with the new form's use. (MSE)

Reports on the development and psychometric attributes of an instrument testing values, attitudes, and predispositions toward the external environment. Also discusses variations in grade, sex, geographic residence of children (9-16 years old) in association with differences in environmental personality as measured by the instrument. (JN)

Presents a checklist designed to measure the reading attitudes of beginning readers. Discusses the methods used to develop the instrument. (FL)

Describes the development and validation of an instrument to test the biology-related attitudes of science students in grades 10-12 in Indonesia. Validation procedures included use of latent partition analysis to examine the conceptual structure of the instrument. (Author/JN)

Details the development of a multidimensional measure of students' satisfaction with their college experience. The eight scale dimensions of the College Descriptive Index were found to be generally independent and displayed acceptable levels of reliability. A moderate degree of construct validity was also found. (Author/JAC)

Discusses Johnson's decision-making theory that information can be gathered in a systematic or spontaneous manner and analyzed either externally or internally. Applies the theory to the helping relationship, assesses the styles of a decision-making inventory, and attempts to determine the reliability and validity of the inventory. (JAC)

Estimation techniques for generating the covariance matrix for two new tests and an existing test without the necessity of any examinee having to take two complete tests is presented. An application of these techniques to linear, observed-score, test equating is presented. (Author/JKS)

Presents a 10-statement true-false "test" on the effects of teachers upon student achievement and explains why each statement is false. (FL)

Criticisms of grading systems are discussed and a variation on the contract system is presented as an alternative. Students select types of assignments they wish to attempt as a "menu" and requirements are stratified according to student skill and experience level. (ND)

Provides teachers with information relating to the technical aspects of test development within various content realms of the social studies. The author explains how tests can be employed to guide the direction of investigation as well as for diagnostic and evaluative purposes. (DB)

This paper presents a multistage adaptive testing test development paradigm that promises to handle content balancing and other test development needs, psychometric reliability concerns, and item exposure. The bundled multistage adaptive testing (BMAT) framework is a modification of the computer-adaptive sequential testing framework introduced by…

The Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire (CSIQ) developed by the AEL helps a school staff gauge its performance on six dimensions related to continuous school improvement. Each member of the staff responds to the CSIQ individually. Although results might be used at the district or regional level, the most widely intended unit for applying…

This digest describes a program used by two New Jersey educators to help teachers improve instruction through a deeper understanding of state standards and test specifications. Understanding how standards-based tests are constructed is the first step in being able to use them to guide and improve instruction. This digest recommends, as the route…