Using a within-subjects design, computer-based and paper-based tests of aircraft silhouette recognition were administered to 83 male naval pilots and flight officers to determine the relative reliabilities and validities of 2 measurement modes. Relative reliabilities and validities of the two modes were contingent on the multivariate measurement…

Relationships among responses to 19 manifest variables from the Meaning and Value of Work Scale Part I were studied using 281 academically disadvantaged and 201 nondisadvantaged high school vocational students (271 males and 211 females). Individuals' attitudes toward independence and society in a work-oriented context may contribute to their…

Studied methods for structuring a performance domain for a certification test in emergency nursing based on task frequency ratings from 659 emergency nurses or task similarity ratings from 21 experts. A 125-job analysis survey was used. Similarity judgment results are more easily interpreted and adequately modeled by multivariate analysis. (SLD)

Information on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was obtained for psychometric properties, gender differences, and relation to depression for 291 psychiatric patients with a subsample of 251 who completed the Beck Depression Inventory. Two demonstrated BAI factors are discussed, as are male-female differences and correlation with depression. (SLD)

One month test-retest reliability of the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) was examined in 88 methadone-maintained males, along with effects of increased information about patients on PCL-R scores and diagnostic derivations. Test-retest reliabilities are quite good. Other findings also confirm potential utility of the PCL-R for research. (SLD)

The use of a rereading strategy by 20 good and 24 poor comprehenders (undergraduates) to regulate understanding was examined. Poor comprehenders generally reread more, but good comprehenders were better able to direct their rereading selectively to text comprehension problems and had better text memory. (SLD)

The Canadian Children's Environmental Response Inventory (CCERI) was translated and administered to Finnish schoolchildren aged 10 to 15 years. The Directing Traits Test (DTT), which was developed in Finland, was given at the same time. Similar factors on the two tests correlated positively and significantly. Finnish results from the Canadian test…

Investigated performance of 166 special education students (6 to 16 years) who had taken the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and later the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III). Results indicated a significant, positive correlation among global scales (p<.001). Findings suggest WISC-R and WISC-III…

To examine the predictive utility of three scales provided in the released database of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (international plausible values, standardized percent correct score, and national Rasch score), information was obtained on the performance in state examinations in mathematics and science in 1996…

Exact nonparametric procedures have been used to identify the level of differential item functioning (DIF) in binary items. This study explored the use of exact DIF procedures with items scored on a Likert scale. The results from an attitude survey suggest that the large-sample Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) procedure identifies more items as…

Objective: To determine the agreement between 2 measures (adult vs adolescent) of current cigarette smoking among young adults. Methods: We examined data from 1007 young adults from the New Jersey Adult Tobacco Survey. The adult measure incorporates lifetime and present use, whereas the adolescent measure assesses past 30-day use. The kappa…

This research studied the interchangeability of individually administered and group administered cognitive tests. Seventy undergraduate students took the Hebrew version of the WAIS-R (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised), and their IQs were measured. They also took the IPET (Israeli Psychometric Entrance Test) and their IPET scores were…

Charter schools--public schools that are exempt from many of the procedural regulations that apply to regular public schools--are a widespread but poorly-studied form of education reform. With nearly 2,700 charter schools now educating more than 684,000 children nationwide, policymakers and parents need to know how the education charter schools…

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans often recommend the use of accommodations to facilitate the learning of classroom material by students with disabilities. Since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997, students with disabilities are expected to participate in state and district-wide assessments, using…

Problems of scale typically arise when comparing test score trends, gaps, and gap trends across different tests. To overcome some of these difficulties, we can express the difference between the observed test performance of two groups with graphs or statistics that are metric-free (i.e., invariant under positive monotonic transformations of the…