This study used multiple methods to assess basic community needs and attributes of community atmosphere (cohesion, religious involvement, and recreational activities) in two psychometric studies. Part 1 revised self-report community assessment measures, developed multi-item scales for each construct, and tested reliabilities and factor structures…

Sixteen goal-like statements were developed around P. Reed's contention that university-public school partnerships promote interdependence between groups, a balanced exchange of valued commodities, shared decision making, adaptations to inherent barriers, and an enabling support structure. The questionnaire was pilot tested with members of other…

Some results are presented relating to the dimensionality of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics item-response data. Based on theoretical considerations, practical limitations, and previous research, two procedures were selected for study: full information factor analysis as implemented in the TESTFACT computer…

Cognitive changes in college students from early in the freshman year to the end of the sophomore year were assessed using a pretest-posttest design. In all, 135 university students completed both a pretest and a posttest. The academic achievement measure used was the College Basic Academic Subjects Examination (CBASE), a test intended to assess…

The purposes of this study were to: (1) investigate the feasibility of including convergent, divergent, and imaginary factors in models of creative thinking in music; (2) identify the relationship between the processes involved in musical creativity and motivation for musical activities; and (3) determine the generalizability of Amabile's…

An alternative to multiple-choice (MC) testing is suggested as it pertains to the field of radiologic technology education. General principles for writing MC questions are given and contrasted with a new type of MC question, the alternate-choice (AC) question, in which the answer choices are embedded in the question in a short form that resembles…

The major objectives and benefits of the Advanced Placement Program (APP) are summarized, and data specific to Delaware are compared to national statistics about advanced placement (AP) courses in high schools. School participation in the APP is considered an indicator of academic success by educators and policy makers. The extent to which…

Data were collected to develop special norms for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABSs) for educable mentally retarded (EMR) and trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children. These scales currently report special norms for retarded adults. The study also sought to determine if the low to moderate relationship typically found between…

With the growing interest in comparing student achievement state by state, there is a need to develop better techniques for making such comparisons. Approaches available now, particularly the use of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) scores, have obvious shortcomings but nonetheless continue to be prominent because…

A study was conducted to determine whether increased test-taking time on a college-level achievement test would differentially increase scores for selected subgroups of community college sophomores. The study sample consisted of 181 Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) students who were classified on the basis of native language, ethnic group, and…

Previous studies in the area of testing frequency are scarce and outdated, but provide results showing that college students performance improves on objective tests when more frequent tests are given. The purpose of this study was to measure college students' performance on more frequent tests by reducing a unit of study into smaller segments,…

The comparative effects of various sequences of test items were examined for over 900 graduate students enrolled in an educational research course at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. experiment, which was conducted a total of four times using four separate tests, presented three different arrangements of 50 multiple-choice items: (1)…

The use of videotape, 16mm film, or personally conducted programs in the Dallas Public Library story hours was studied to determine the effectiveness of the three methods in improving the listening skills of preschool children of varying socioeconomic levels. This report of the 1981/82 research project provides information on sample size…

A study was carried out to assess the French language proficiency of kindergarten students enrolled in a French early immersion program and two "classes d'accueil," that is, a special program for non-French speaking immigrant children. The particular focus of the study was to investigate whether the level of proficiency in French is…

A follow-up study of two instruments for evaluating college writing was conducted. The experimental scale (E Scale) was developed in 1976 and revised for this study. The control scale (C Scale) was described in the literature in 1977. Ten English majors graded ten essays from diagnostic entrance exams. Both the E Scale and the C Scale were used,…