The use of multiple comparisons in analysis of variance (ANOVA) is discussed. It is argued that experimentwise Type I error rate inflation can be serious and that its influences are often unnoticed in ANOVA applications. Both classical balanced omnibus and orthogonal planned contrast tests inflate experimentwise error to an identifiable maximum.…

Two strategies, derived from J. P. Schaffer (1986), were compared as tests of significance for a complete set of planned orthogonal contrasts. The procedures both maintain an experimentwise error rate at or below alpha, but differ in the manner in which they test the contrast with the largest observed difference. One approach proceeds directly to…

The proceedings of the 1990 Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA) are presented. This document includes a list of MSERA association officers and directors; lists of standing and special committees; the constitution and bylaws of the MSERA; and abstracts of discussion sessions, display sessions, symposia, and training sessions.…

This paper briefly summarizes the findings from a national survey for the Measurement Services Association (MSA) of testing and measurement offices regarding their organizational characteristics and their activities and services. Questionnaires were mailed to all testing offices (n=146) at colleges and universities on the MSA Newsletter mailing…

The cue utilization and hypothesis testing strategies of expert reading diagnosticians were examined throughout the diagnostic process. Diagnostic processes of three diagnosticians (a reading specialist, a learning disabilities specialist, and a classroom teacher), who were very different in background and teaching assignment, were studied at work…

A central aim in any assessment program is to ensure fair and stable scoring from administration to administration. When administrations are decentralized, not only in location, but in frequency and in logistical configuration, it is imperative to construct training, certifying, and monitoring systems that provide continuity between the original…

The document describes a process-oriented strategy for assessing children with atypical motor development. The Ordinal Scales of Psychological Development in Infancy by I. Uzgiris and J. Hunt are used as the content base. The intervention program focuses on teaching parents techniques for enhancing the child's functioning in sensorimotor, motor,…

This experiment was designed to investigate the possibility that young children use syntax to constrain and focus verb meanings in their interpretations of novel scenes and novel verbs. Subjects were 24 children, 12 males and 12 females, of 23 to 27 months, all raised in English-speaking homes. Their mean productive vocabulary was 240 words. A…

The probability of experiment-wise error is explored. Overall, the experiment-wise error rate is directly related to the test-wise error rate--the alpha level set by researchers to curtail the existence of a Type I error. A Type I error occurs when a true null hypothesis is rejected in a given study or experiment. The experiment-wise error rate is…

This paper focuses on the teacher competency testing movement that is sweeping the nation. The first section provides an overview of teacher testing programs nationally, including the rationale for such programs, the types of tests used across the states, concerns about current testing programs, test validity studies, and fiscal and legal issues.…

Smooth pursuit eye movements and saccadic eye movements in Japanese autistic, mentally retarded, and normal young children were simultaneously measured by an eye camera system (ECS) and an electro-oculography (EOG) system. The ECS was developed in the laboratory of the Research Institute for the Education of Exceptional Children at Tokyo Gakugei…

The current popularity of teacher testing allows for content, criterion, and construct validity to be assessed, as pertaining to achievement levels on basic knowledge examinations. Teacher competency is a complex issue that is inaccurately confused with or identified as measures derived from academic testing. The problems in addressing the…

Five alternatives to standardized testing of student achievement are described in this brief overview. The first, criterion-referenced tests, are designed to evaluate the accomplishment of specifically stated instructional objectives. Student performance is judged on the basis of the objectives, rather than in comparison to other students taking…

Testing as a means of documenting progress has risen to prominence in the climate of educational crisis which followed the publication of "A Nation At Risk." New developments in testing will determine how some of the current problems now facing postsecondary education are resolved. Among these problems are the following: lack of agreement on what…

Meta-analyses of the hypotheses that relationships exist between play and problem solving, and between play and creativity, were conducted. The data set for the meta-analyses included studies designed to investigate the relationship between play and fluency or originality, or between play and problem-solving behavior. The meta-analyses of…