Summarizes research related to humor in testing and presents new evidence on the effectiveness of humor in constructed-response items. Findings from a survey at Johns Hopkins University's School of Nursing indicated that students feel that humor makes a difference in their test performance. Describes specific strategies for using humor in tests.…

Surveys 354 nationally certified school psychologists on the perceived usefulness of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) in general and profile analysis in particular. Practitioners rated the WISC-III as very useful for determining diagnosis and educational placement, but less useful for developing instructional strategies…

Tests Kaufman's hypothesis that WISC-III Freedom from Distractibility and Processing Speed scores will be lower than those from corresponding factors (i.e., Verbal Comprehension) when children display inappropriate test-taking behaviors. This hypothesis was not supported. Encourages clinicians to rely on behavioral indices other than WISC-III…

General aspects of vocabulary testing are briefly discussed, and a new type of test that aims at testing very high levels of second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge is analyzed and investigated. (Author/VWL)

Suggest that the call for more pointed graduate education and more affirmative journal policies on replication-extension made by R. Hubbard and P. Ryan is useful, although inadequate and probably pointless. Statistical significance testing appears to be here to stay despite the charge that it is of "marginal scientific value." (SLD)

Considers key concepts of elicited imitation (EI), to clarify this technique for language testing. Reviews the literature on EI and suggests some issues for discussion, such as the process of imitating, the length and structure of the stimulus, contextual support, whether the test evaluates comprehension or production skills, whether it assesses…

Discusses how, as the College Board prepares to make changes in the SAT, experts debate how fair the new exam will be. (EV)

Examined whether processing speed tests can predict the benefits of extended test time for college students with learning disabilities. Found that the Visual Matching and Cross Out tests from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised were significantly correlated with the benefit of extended test time, while the Digit Symbol subtest…

Demonstrates the use of the well-known Bayes factor in the Bayesian literature for hypothesis testing and model comparison in general two-level structural equation models. Shows that the proposed method is flexible and can be applied to situations with a wide variety of nonnested models. (SLD)

Examines testing practices in: (1) the past, in which the traditional paradigm left little room for cognitive psychology principles; (2) the present, in which testing research is enhanced by principles of cognitive psychology; and (3) the future, in which the potential of cognitive psychology should be fully realized through item design.…

Results of the online Kuder Career Search (KCS) were compared with concurrent measures of career interest and self-efficacy for 197 college freshmen. The KCS Activity Preference Scales related as expected. The rank order of KCS Career Clusters correlated with the ranks of the concurrent interest scales. (Contains 17 references.) (SK)

Describes a collaborative effort in using the Blackboard CourseInfo quiz generator to make online quizzes available to students taking intermediate Japanese. Because of the convenience of online delivery, these quizzes are well suited to the needs of today's liberal arts students who often participate in many extracurricular activities.…

The state of Washington's Department of Personnel has adopted an Internet system for online job application, screening, testing, scoring, and interview referral. Candidate certifications are tailored to job skill requirements specified by personnel managers, giving managers flexible access to a pool of high-quality job candidates. (SK)

Discusses how Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) is incorporated into testing practices to define an addition to the assessment repertory called dynamic assessment (DA). Operationalizes MLE in a rating scale and then describes four approaches to DA: a group administered screening procedure; a generic curriculum-based approach; an individual…

Although employee drug testing is widespread among private employers, the development of programs in the public sector has been slower due to constitutional law constraints. A qualitative approach presenting various participant perspectives may aid in developing an employee drug testing program. (Contains 41 references/notes.) (JOW)