Discusses the use of job-screening techniques to help in custodial-staff hiring process. Describes the screening techniques and explains their positive effects on costs and productivity. (GR)

A broad scientific perspective that recognizes the child's social environment is needed in school psychology practice. The chances of influencing change expand when psychologists switch from an intrapsychic model to a social systems (group process) framework for testing referrals. Intrapsychic explanations create a mechanism for educators to avoid…

Two nested structural models are developed to determine whether test-session behaviors affect the manner in which intelligence is measured or influence the constructs being measured. Results indicate that test-session behaviors play a larger role influencing the mechanisms of measurement than on the constructs of intelligence. (Author/EMK)

The Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) is a written test of cognitive development constructed to be logically equivalent to specific Piagetian tasks. It consists of 36 open-ended items administered in a one-to-one situation. Subjects were middle to upper class, predominantly white elementary school students. The 168 students were randomly drawn from…

The Federal Government has pushed employers to establish programs to test applicants and employees for drug use. The accompanying articles discuss legal barriers to drug testing and test administration and practical problems that limit the feasibility of drug testing and carry with them potential legal problems. (MLF)

Predicts that by the year 2000, IQ tests will have disappeared, being replaced by evaluations of a broad range of talents and abilities that avoid unfair and damaging labels. (DW)

In the specific methods of standard setting in testing, judgments about individuals being tested, contrasting groups being tested, and judgments about the test items are discussed. In judgments about individual test-takers, assumptions are presented based on the knowledge and skills the test is intended to measure, the test-takers' skills at the…

Reviews the Diagnostic Achievement Test for Adolescents (DATA), a test designed to be individually administered to estimate student achievement (for ages 12 to 18) in a variety of academic areas. Concludes that the test is well constructed and easy to use. (SKC)

Modifying standardized tests for students with disabilities is a complex issue. Tests should be modified only when alternative measures do not exist. Testing professionals should always be cognizant of the fact that whenever modifications are made, normative interpretations must be made very cautiously. In addition, the accommodations that were…

A case for using individual interviews is presented. Sample interviews are given, and instructional improvement and program evaluation are discussed. (MK)

The Kaufman-Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), a new individually administered intelligence and achievement instrument, includes several subtests on which the examiner may teach the task to the subject. The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching or training could influence the test outcome and thus, lower the reliability of the…

The purpose for which a test is needed is the most important criterion for deciding which type of student assessment tool should be used. Standardized tests were developed as sorting instruments based upon certain views of knowledge and learning. Educators, according to their own values, must either bring standardized tests more into line with…

Students at two age levels were given paper and pencil mathematics tests as well as individually administered practical tests. Test development and administration are discussed, and some results of the experiment are presented. (SD)

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test assesses achievement in students in grades K-12, with subtests in reading, mathematics reasoning, spelling, reading comprehension, numerical operations, listening comprehension, oral expression, and written expression. The test was developed to assist in identification of students with learning…

Reasons why there are few incentives for test publishers to make significant innovations in what is tested or how it is tested are given. A brief discussion of research on growth spurts in the brain, hemispheric differences, and other neurological phenomena is followed by a discussion of some conclusions drawn from this work. While skepticism is…