The validity, reliability, and item characteristics of the Maine Real Estate Licensure Examination were investigated. Its validity was based on its construction; a task analysis was performed on real estate broker and salesperson jobs, items were written by trained personnel; and the test was reviewed by a panel of experts. Differences in scores…

The controversy on the importance of children's attitudes toward their educational experiences has focused on two major questions: First, are attitudes an appropriate concern for educational systems; and second, are attitudes important as correlates of critical educational behaviors or simply as ends in themselves? This study attempted to add some…

This training manual presents information on the Brockport Physical Fitness Test (BPFT), a criterion-referenced fitness test for children and adolescents with disabilities. The first chapter of the test training manual includes information dealing with health-related criterion-referenced testing, the interaction between physical activity and…

The development and validation of an instrument designated as the Classroom and School Community Inventory (CSCI) are described. Scores on both the classroom form and the school form of the CSCI possess strong content validity, construct validity, internal consistencies, and 2-week test-retest reliability. Using a sample of 341 traditional and…

Some 15 to 20 percent of U.S. school children speak a foreign language at home, and the number is increasing rapidly. However, all limited-English proficient (LEP) students are not alike, and their differences must be understood in assessing their performance. It is vital to understand the role of culture and how the cultural background influences…

The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) is a multiple aptitude battery designed to measure junior and senior high school students' and adults' ability to learn or succeed in certain areas. The test is suitable for group administration and is primarily for use in educational and vocational counseling, although it may be used in employee selection. The…

The purpose of this research study was to build and pilot a psychometric instrument, the Primary Childhood School Success Scale (PCSSS), to identify behaviors needed for children to be successful in first grade. Fifty-two teacher responses were collected. The instrument had a reliability coefficient (Alpha) of 0.95, a mean of 13.26, and a variance…

As part of a project on assessing deep understanding of subject matter, a study was conducted to assess students' knowledge of history by focusing on essay writing. Reading a provided text was incorporated into the assessment procedure. Ratings from five high school history teachers were compared with those of four English teachers for 85 essays…

This book presents the full array of assessment methods available to the classroom teacher in an interesting and engaging format, broadens the preservice and inservice teacher's understanding of related assessment issues, and places assessment in a meaningful context. The text, which was developed for an introductory course in classroom…

A self-administering test of oral language fluency was developed for use with high school teachers of French and Spanish. Interviews were also conducted, and biographical data were collected. The original instrument was based on the Foreign Language Questionnaire Pretest developed for the Survey of Global Understanding Project. The focus of the…

This text on foreign language testing provides an overview of testing principles, problems, and practices, and examines the multiple roles of the classroom teacher, as well as the construction and scoring of more formal language tests. The following types or foreign language tests are distinguished: achievement or attainment tests, proficiency…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 titles include studies dealing with the following areas: the evaluation of student writing; the assessment of the communicative competence of kindergarten children; formulas for predicting high school reading achievement; an…

This book addresses the question of what tests are measures of. Intelligence, achievement, and personality tests not based on empirical investigation have questionable validity. Some researchers now suspect that almost all tests given to students in all subjects, as well as general tests of intelligence and personality, are essentially language…

The Course Entry Inventory was developed to assess the affective characteristics of college students when they enter a course. The four dimensions measured were: affective characteristics upon entry, willingness to undertake course activities and accept instruction, perceived importance of the course, and self-reported level of apprehension about…

This guide begins with a series of questions and answers which introduce Pennsylvania's Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) Inventory as a 188-to 190-item multiple choice test for fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades. Items are selected from a 400-item bank using matrix sampling procedures. Test results are analyzed at the school level; no…