In order to assess the quality of stimulation in the home environment, the Inventory of Home Stimulation (HOME) was used as part of the evaluation strategy for the Houston Parent Child Development Center Program, which attempts to help parents develop their competence as teachers of their own children. One hundred low income, Mexican American…

Paper-pencil tests and classroom work-samples were used to evaluate the effectiveness of three learning units for teachers in early childhood education. Half of the sample had BA degrees or above, and half high school diplomas or less. Both methods assessed the same four competencies: quality of classroom arrangement, personalization of a…

This manual outlines the rationale for using the Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) approach and suggests specific guidelines for test developers to use in constructing test items. Methods for assessing the adequacy of a CRT are also provided. (Author/RC)

The purpose of this technical report is to describe the Tests of General Ability and Tests of Reading of the Inter-American Series, to give a brief account of their construction, and to present related statistical data. Norms and suggestions on the use and interpretation of the tests are published separately. The Inter-American Series discussed in…

New legislation on education, introduced in Brazil from 1968 to 1971, addresses university entrance requirements and exam characteristics by calling for centralization of exam preparation, examinee registration, test administration, test scoring and result reporting, and the use of objective tests. The Brazilian educational structure has three…

Two models were identified for criterion-referenced tests, one based on the assumption of a continuous achievement variable and the other assuming a dichotomous or binary variable. Several test characteristics were examined and contrasted for the two models, including the distribution of scores, establishment of a cutting score, test length, item…

This manual presents information on three instruments designed for surveying mental health problems in schools. Part I describes the instruments, which are two questionnaires called the School Problem Area Survey--Staff, and the School Problem Area Survey--Students, and a guide to be used in interviews, called the Demographic Information Form as…

The Cultural Attitude Scales represent a modular approach to the measurement of cultural attitudes and knowledge with respect to the Puerto Rican, Anglo-American, and Black-American cultures. They are applicable to programs which propose to enhance ethnic identity or cross-cultural understanding among any one or more of these three ethnic groups.…

An attempt was made to further the understanding of foreign language proficiencies and to formulate methods of testing them. Language testing is needed as a criterion of the efficacy of teaching. Consideration of the curriculum and analysis of the texts used would aid in test construction. A discussion of the design and content of language tests…

The purpose of this study was to develop a test that could be used both to diagnose student writing needs and to evaluate the effects of classroom teaching on the abilities of secondary school-junior college students to write expositorily. Data analysis was organized to indicate the extent to which a carefully designed objective test could validly…

To develop and field test new assessment procedures for the 1969-70 Head Start national evaluation, a list of existing tests measuring selected social and emotional variables was compiled. Tests were selected on these criteria: (1) conceptual soundness, (2) relevance for preschool children, (3) whether disadvantaged children might be expected to…

The present study was an attempt to assess the impact of Project Head Start upon the parents of children who participated in a 6-month Head Start intervention program in Austin, Texas. The sample was comprised of 57 Negro and 51 Latin-American parents. From the Parent Interview, which was administered to the female caretaker (usually the mother)…

This research paper is an evaluation of the Dallas County Child Care Council's program and materials for training day care staff. Thirty-five white, middle-class 3-year-old children and their teachers participated in the study. The children were enrolled in two separate day care centers which served as control and experimental environments. The…

This paper describes the collecting of normative data concerning the development of East Indian babies and analyzes the information in terms of: (1) the influences of socioeconomic class; (2) urban-rural environmental differences; (3) sex differences; and (4) comparisons with children from the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom. The…

A review of the literature on automated psychological testing shows that most research and development in this area is based on a one-test, one-psychologist model. In this model, the functions of test administration, scoring, and interpretation are thought out in terms of specific tests presented on an individualized basis. However, more complete…