The psychometric properties of objective tests administered in two testing conditions were compared, using an experimental take-home testing condition and a traditional in-class testing condition. Subjects were 290 college students in a basic educational psychology course who took a test developed and tested the previous semester. Two equivalent…

This paper addresses the cross-cultural development and use of the Behavior Description Index (BDI). The development of culturally-transportable scales; cross-cultural comparisons of results for 12 Spanish, 15 Hungarian, 15 Indonesian, and U.S. managers; and the transportability of competencies as constructs are considered. A competency is an…

An approach to detecting differential item functioning using the Rasch model with equivalent-group cross-validation was investigated. College students taking the Dental Admission Test, were divided by gender (936 females and 1,537 males) into 2 different samples. Rasch analyses were performed on both samples. Data were recalibrated after…

The Speech Reception Test was developed to measure an individual's ability to hear and understand conversational speech. The equipment used to record the test is described in detail, and data are given for the results of the test given to 100 normal-hearing college students. Other data describe the results for 55 military veterans with known…

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, degree of item bias, and testing strategy. Computer simulation was used in the administration of either a conventional or Bayesian adaptive ability test to a…

To determine the effectiveness of the CERLI program in Charleston, Illinois, for training a Specialist in Continuing Education (SCE), an attempt was made to determine whether the program had effected behavioral changes enabling the participants to function in this new role. Because of insufficient data and certain constraints, this hypothesis can…

The purpose of this study was to compare the reliabilities of two-, three-, four-, and five-choice tests using an incremental option paradigm. Test forms were created incrementally, a method approximating actual test construction procedures. Participants were 154 12th-grade students from the Portland (Oregon) area. A 45-item test with two options…

Equivalence in reliability and validity across 4-point and 6-point scales was assessed by fitting different measurement models through confirmatory factor analysis of a multitrait-multimethod covariance matrix. Responses to nine Likert-type items designed to measure perceived quantitative ability, self-perceived usefulness of quantitative…

The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) is a relatively new, statewide performance assessment of students in grades 3, 5, and 8. When first administered in May of 1991, the MSPAP included a battery of performance assessment tasks designed to generate written or drawn responses to reading texts. This study evaluated selected…

The development and validation of a shortened and revised version of the Belief in Personal Control Scale (BPCS-RS) are described. Like the original 85-item version of the BPCS, the BPCS-RS measures three empirically derived factors (a belief in general external control of outcomes, an exaggerated belief in personal control of outcomes, and a…

The reliability and validity of multiple-choice tests were computed as a function of the number of options per item and student ability for 435 parochial high school juniors, who were administered the Washington Pre-College Test Battery. Results suggest the efficacy of the three-option item. (SLD)

Item components that might contribute to the difficulty of items on the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) and the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) were studied. Subjects providing responses to CPM items were 269 children aged 2 years 9 months to 11 years 8 months, most of whom were referred for testing as potentially gifted. A second…

Two approaches to testing student achievement are discussed: (1) traditional standardized tests; and (2) testing achievement on an instructional unit. Content validity is a major problem with standardized achievement tests. Even though test publishers typically consider a number of curriculum guides and textbooks in producing a test which is…

The lack of a German language testing instrument for economic literacy has led to problems for researchers in German-speaking countries to establish the level of economic literacy in those countries. The translation of the 23rd edition (1987) of the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) into a German version, known as the Wirtschalfliche Bildung Test…

Eighth grade teachers in three local school districts helped customize two standardized norm-referenced tests for ninth graders to investigate effects of deleting some items and adding locally constructed items. Results indicate that percentile ranks for the customized tests could be very different from those for the complete test. (SLD)