Responds to Abrami's proposals in "Improving Judgments about Teaching Effectiveness Using Teacher Rating Forms." Draws from comments made by members of an American Education Research Association special interest group and offers a personal perspective. (EV)

Preceding articles in this issue, "Improving Judgments about Teaching Effectiveness Using Teacher Rating Forms" (Abrami) and "Can We Put Precision into Practices? Commentary and Thoughts Engendered by Abrami's 'Improving Judgments about Teacher Effectiveness Using Teacher Rating Forms,'" offered: (1) Abrami's proposals to…

Pennsylvania adult literacy providers who responded to a survey (35 of 93) were generally satisfied with assessment tools for English as a Second Language. Problem areas included writing assessment for placement; measures of progress in reading, writing, and speaking; and diagnostic tools for grammar, pronunciation, and student interests and…

Responds to an article (1992) in which Cross and Saxe assert that polygraph testing is inaccurate and inappropriate in the area of child sexual abuse. Presents a summary of recent polygraph validity and reliability studies to refute their claims, and discusses current uses of polygraph testing in child sexual abuse cases. (JPS)

This paper describes development of the Intervention Stressors Inventory, a scale measuring the level of stress that sexually abused children experience from various interventions, such as police interviews, social worker interviews, placement in foster care, and testimony in court. Interviews with 254 sexually abused children and their parents…

Describes a study that sought to test for the factorial validity of the French version of the Beck Depression Inventory separately for nonclinical adolescent French-speaking males and females; cross-validate findings across a second independent sample for each gender; and test for equivalent factorial structure across gender for that population.…

The factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was studied with a subsample of 93 bulimic women from a total sample of 110 women with eating disorders. Results suggested that the BDI appears to assess a unidimensional construct in patients with eating disorders. (SLD)

The development and initial validation of a new Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (MMPI-2) scale designed to determine infrequent responding with psychopathological populations are described. Results with 1,179 subjects show that the Infrequency-Psychopathology Scale (F p ) may be useful in settings with high base rates of…

Compared 32 adolescent boys who had social skills deficits consistent with Asperger's Disorder to 29 controls matched on age and intelligence quotient. Significant differences were found between groups on Child and Adolescent Social Perception Measure scores, and the validity of the instrument was supported. (Contains 37 references.) (JOW)

Study aims to extend previous research by evaluating the treatment sensitivity of items on a measure of child behavior, the Parent-Elementary form of the Social Skills Rating Scale using a clinical rather than experimental sample. Results reveal that scales formed with the subset of change-sensitive items demonstrate larger effect sizes than the…

Describes an incident involving the author, his daughter, and sample items from a Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. Elaborates on the author's increasing confusion with SOL assessments, especially in reading. Proposes that educators spend less time testing kids and more time "testing their theories" so that assessments better reflect recent…

Urges reconsideration of the definition of a successful student and how success is measured. Reviews high-stakes testing practices and suggests that it is not clear what these tests measure or whether they are effective in identifying student success. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

This study compared students diagnosed with learning disabilities (n=2,053) and students without learning disabilities (n=2,200) on the Learning Disability Index (LDI). Subsamples of specific reading and math disabilities permitted further assessment. Analysis indicated the LDI resulted in a correct diagnostic decision only 55 to 64 percent of the…

The Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) assesses intentionality in personal growth. Three studies were undertaken to (1) investigate the PGI construct; (2) describe the development and factor structure of the PGIS; and (3) test the internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the PGIS. (EMK)

Presents procedures for reducing attrition in clinical research and provides a case study for examination by researchers. Includes lists of preventative strategies and statistical methodologies to reduce attrition and bias. Argues that early planning for attrition by adjusting sample sizes is a scientifically sound approach to clinical research…