Investigated construct validity of the Spanish translation of the Bracken Basic Concept Scale (BBCS) in Latino children (n=293) including monolingual Spanish-speaking children from Puerto Rico and Venezuela and Spanish-dominant bilingual Latino children from Texas. Results provided support for construct validity of the Spanish version of the…

Evaluated revision of Vocational Decision Scale called Career Decision Profile (CDP) which was administered to 221 undergraduates. Found results supported reliability and validity of the Decidedness and Comfort scales and the four scales of the Reasons dimension. Found CDP showed promise for differentiating among groups of students for treatment.…

The Woodcock Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (Revised) is reviewed in regard to its application with learning-disabled (LD) adults. Strengths of the revised test are identified as are concerns about the low representation of LD adults in the normative sample and the complex interpretation process. (DB)

Examined frequency of reports of psychometric properties for scales in 1967, 1977, and 1987 volumes of "Journal of Counseling Psychology." Found that researchers increasingly provided reference citations for scales and reliability estimates as well as reliability estimates for samples, but majority of 1987 scales had no reported sample…

Examined the ability of CAGE, an established screening test for alcoholism, to identify accurately problem drinkers among college students (N=582). Found that the CAGE did not perform well enough to serve as a screening tool for problem drinking within the college student population. (Author/ABL)

Outlines some practical procedures for assessing test quality. Tests are relevant when learning outcomes have been correctly defined, when test content is aligned with instructional objectives, and when test and instructional formats are similar. Reliable tests follow administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures and consider difficulty…

Describes development of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), self-report inventory for measuring severity of anxiety in psychiatric populations. Describes study results which showed BAI to have high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and to discriminate anxious diagnostic groups from nonanxious diagnostic groups. (Author/NB)

Discusses the problems of using chronometric analysis, a common cognitive psychological method, for educational assessment. Suggests that cognitive assessment has not reached the precision needed to analyze individual differences. (FMW)

Data are presented on the validity and reliability of a new form of employee honesty testing: "The Integrity Interview." Results indicated that this instrument was a reliable alternative to commonly used written measures, although further study is needed to establish normative data across different employee populations and settings.…

Describes the development and psychometric properties of the Memory Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (MSEQ), a self-report measure of memory ability and confidence. The MSEQ and its alternate versions were examined in 3 experiments involving 558 adults. Satisfactory estimates of internal consistency and test-retest stability were obtained. (RJC)

Examined the equivalence of two versions of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) using four combinations of paper-and-pencil and computer administrations with college student subjects (N=75). Found slightly better test-retest reliability for the computer-based SCII. (Author/ABL)

Refutes Leslie MacLean and Harvey Goldstein's charges (in the January 1988 "Kappan") that the National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Proficiency Scale is based on a single assumption (reading proficiency) accounting for responses to all reading tasks. Characterizes the scale as developmental, with points corresponding to…

Rebuffs Leslie Maclean and Harvey Goldstein's claims that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Proficiency Scale is unidimensional. Critics' confusion may stem from failing to separate what a test measures from a score's usefulness. The Lexile Reading Scale should be integrated with the NAEP scale. Includes eight…

The factor structure of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children was evaluated with 169 gifted students, aged 6-10. Results tentatively suggested that the factor solution for gifted students is dissimilar to that for the standardization sample, as subtests designed to assess sequential processing did not all load together, nor did those…

Describes contraints on reading instruction, such as basal readers, assessment methods, and academic competition in the classroom. Presents a motivational agenda for improving reading instruction that removes the focus on ego and extrinsic goals and stresses self-appraisal and development of positive attitudes. Includes 45 references. (MLH)