As researchers in the social sciences, we are often interested in studying not directly observable constructs through assessments and questionnaires. But even in a well-designed and well-implemented study, rapid-guessing behavior may occur. Under rapid-guessing behavior, a task is skimmed shortly but not read and engaged with in-depth. Hence, a…

Adoption of new instructional standards in science demands high-quality information about classroom practice. Teacher portfolios can be used to assess instructional practice and support teacher self-reflection anchored in authentic evidence from classrooms. This study investigated a new type of electronic portfolio tool that allows efficient…

The measurement error in principal components extracted from a set of fallible measures is discussed and evaluated. It is shown that as long as one or more measures in a given set of observed variables contains error of measurement, so also does any principal component obtained from the set. The error variance in any principal component is shown…

A critical discussion of the assumption of uncorrelated errors in classical psychometric theory and its applications is provided. It is pointed out that this assumption is essential for a number of fundamental results and underlies the concept of parallel tests, the Spearman-Brown's prophecy and the correction for attenuation formulas as well as…

The notion of item context effects implies that psychometric properties of an item or scale are altered by the presentation format, for example, blocked versus randomized. In an experimental study with high school students, the experimental group (n = 407) answered a four-dimensional academic self-concept questionnaire, in which the items were…

The factor structure of the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale (FEICS) is tested in a sample of Irish adolescents. Participants were 661 adolescents with a mean age of 15.9 years (SD = 1.26). Interpretation of both the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the FEICS show support for the two-factor structure of the FEICS…

Editorial board members of "Educational and Psychological Measurement" were asked to list up to five publications each, written since roughly 1950, that they thought were seminal to shaping the measurement field. This bibliography lists 59 of their selections as a "hit parade" of measurement readings. (SLD)

The psychometric properties of the Body Esteem Scale (BES) were studied with 255 girls and boys in grades 5 through 12. Internal consistency was found for the gender-specific subscales. Results provide preliminary evidence that the BES may be a psychometrically defensible assessment of body esteem among adolescents. (SLD)

Studied descriptive measurement reliability and validity of scores from the newly developed Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) for class and test with a sample of 302 Australian high school students. Results provide some evidence for the psychometric properties of the MSES in both contexts, but there is evidence of failure to counterbalance…

Examined the psychometric properties of a French version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC; C. Spielberger and others, 1973), administered to 288 French Canadian children in intermediate grades. Findings show that the STAIC is psychometrically sound. (SLD)

Studied the psychometric characteristics of a developmental assessment in mathematics composed of 19 performance tasks for students in grades K-3. Reports convergent validity coefficients, internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and task orderings. (SLD)

Examined the psychometric properties of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (A. Beck and others, 1974) among 544 university students. Results show satisfactory internal consistency of scores, but factor analysis suggested four factors that were largely uninterpretable. Results of a convergent validity study indicate that there are more appropriate…

Examined the psychometric properties of an individual difference measure of identification within the mathematics and English domains. Factor analytic results substantiated the presence of English and Mathematics subscales, which yielded scores that were internally consistent and stable over time. Results for samples of 1,143 and 98 college…

Responses of 871 adults to the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale-Adult version (AMAS-A) were factor analyzed using the method of principal axis factoring with promax rotation. Factor analysis yielded a four-factor solution: three anxiety factors (Worry/Oversensitivity, Stress, and Physiological Anxiety) and a Lie factor. The AMAS-A's three-factor…