No description available.

This study investigated the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) predictions of above or below the .08 per se level by Texas peace officers in the field based on the scoring of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. This study involved the submission of 35 standardized field sobriety testing (SFST) evaluations, including the HGN test from Texas peace officers throughout the State of Texas in a six-month period after completion of the SFST practitioner course. A total data set of 2,000 individual samples was used for this study. A statistical analysis of the data indicated that Texas peace officer BAC predictions of above or below the .08 per se level, based upon the observation and scoring of the observed clues during the administration of the HGN test, were 92.8% accurate during the first six month period upon completion of the SFST practitioner course. An analysis of the data also indicated that Texas peace officer BAC predictions of above or below the .08 per se level, based upon the observation and scoring of the observed clues during the administration of the HGN test, were more accurate during the second three-month period (94.0%) as opposed to the first three-month period (91.6%) upon the completion of the SFST practitioner course. There was no statistical significance found between the two three month periods for BAC predictions by the Texas peace officers. The mean BAC for this study was .114. Three recommendations were made as a result of this study. First, the Texas peace officer should submit the 35 SFST evaluations on a bi-yearly basis to ensure consistency in the administration of the tests. Second, the Texas peace officer should attend SFST update training on a bi-yearly basis to maintain proficiency in the SFST battery and curriculum. Third, the current SFST practitioner curriculum should focus more on the administration and scoring of the SFSTs including the HGN test to maximize the learning of the competencies of the correct administration and scoring of the SFST battery.

In this study a rationale is provided for the need for integrative sychometric studies in addition to exploratory studies. The psychometric concepts of validity, reliability, test comparability and bias are reviewed. Furthermore the concepts of the nomological network and meta-analysis are reviewed with regard to their relevance for integrating findings of psychometric research. The historical origins of the Intermediate Mental Alertness Test (IMAT) are traced with a view to distinguishing it from a number of related tests. Psychometric information is summarised from a wide cross-section of both published and unpublished studies on the IMAT, and the findings of these studies are reviewed in terms of the reliability and validity of the IMAT across different contexts and groups. It is found that there are an insufficient number of validity studies using similar criteria for the meta-analysis technique to be applied. An attempt is therefore made to interpret trends from the research studies reviewed, and recommendations are provided in terms of reporting standards for future validity studies in order to facilitate integrative research techniques such as meta-analysis. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1991.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-Natal University College, Pietermaritzburg, 1946.

This study investigates how grammatical ability is assessed in L2 academic writing classrooms. In the assessment literature, grammatical ability is defined to include syntax and morphology (Purpura, 2004; Weigle, 2002) and lexical forms, cohesion, and information management on the subsentential, sentential, and suprasentential levels (Purpura, 2004). Writing teachers would, therefore, need to attend to morphosyntactic and other grammatical aspects in L2 texts that serve to organize information and create cohesion on the sentence, paragraph, and text levels. In a mixed methods triangulation design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this study examines the indicators of grammatical ability that writing teachers (n = 2) attend to when assessing their students' (n = 33) grammatical ability in academic essays in one high-intermediate and one advanced L2 writing course at an English-medium university in Canada. In addition, the study considers to what extent the students' learning is affected by the teachers' assessment criteria. In the first phase of this study, the students' essay exams and the teacher-assigned grammar grade were collected and analyzed quantitatively using accuracy and complexity measures as indicators of morphosyntactic ability. They were also examined qualitatively within a framework of systemic functional linguistics to assess the students' ability to manage information in their texts. In phase two, student questionnaires were administered, and student interviews were conducted to determine the students' knowledge of the teachers' assessment criteria for grammar. In phase three, the teachers were interviewed about their criteria and their priorities in the assessment of grammar. Finally, the results from all three phases and all four data sources were integrated to come to an overall interpretation of the findings. The results indicate that writing teachers focus above all on grammatical accuracy when assessing their students' grammatical ability. Consequently, writing teachers seem to assess a reduced construct of grammatical ability in academic writing, compared to definitions in the L2 assessment literature. This emphasis has an impact on how students learn in these L2 writing classrooms. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of implications and makes recommendations for L2 writing assessment based on the findings of this study. / Cette recherche s'intéresse à la façon d'évaluer les compétences grammaticales dans les cours universitaires d'écriture langue seconde (L2). Selon la littérature, les compétences grammaticales comprennent la syntaxe et la morphologie (Purpura, 2004; Weigle, 2002) de même que les formes lexicales, la cohésion et la gestion de l'information au niveau sous-phrastique, phrastique et supra-phrastique (Purpura, 2004). Par conséquent, les professeurs d'écriture devraient, lors de l'étude de textes en L2, miser sur la morphosyntaxe et sur d'autres aspects grammaticaux utiles à l'organisation de l'information et assurant la cohésion au niveau de la phrase, du paragraphe et du texte. En s'appuyant sur une approche méthodologique mixte (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007), utilisant une triangulation de données qualitatives et quantitatives, cette recherche vise à déterminer quels sont les indicateurs de performance grammaticale sur lesquels s'appuient les professeurs d'écriture (n = 2) lorsqu'ils évaluent les compositions de leurs étudiants (n = 33). Les étudiants de l'échantillon étaient inscrits à une université canadienne anglophone et suivaient un cours d'anglais de niveau intermédiaire ou avancé. D'autre part, cette recherche a pour objectif de déterminer à quel point l'apprentissage des étudiants est influencé par les critères d'évaluation de leur professeur. Dans la première partie de la recherche, les compositions des étudiants et les notes de grammaire données par le professeur ont été collectées et analysées quantitativement, en utilisant des mesures de justesse et de complexité grammaticales comme indicateurs de la compétence morphosyntaxique. Elles ont également été analysées qualitativement dans un cadre linguistique systémique fonctionnel afin de déterminer la compétence des étudiants à gérer l'information dans leurs textes. Dans la seconde partie de la recherche, des questionnaires ont été administrés aux étudiants et certaines entrevues ont été menées afin d'évaluer la connaissance qu'avaient les étudiants des critères d'évaluation de leur professeur en ce qui a trait à la grammaire. Dans la troisième partie, les professeurs ont été interviewés au sujet de leurs critères et priorités dans l'évaluation de la grammaire. Enfin, les résultats des trois parties et des quatre sources d'informations ont été réunis afin d'en arriver à une interprétation globale des conclusions. Les résultats révèlent que les professeurs d'écriture priorisent surtout la justesse grammaticale lorsqu'ils évaluent les compétences grammaticales de leurs étudiants. Par conséquent, les professeurs d'écriture semblent s'appuyer sur une définition plus limitée de la compétence grammaticale dans l'évaluation des textes de leurs étudiants que ce qui est défini par la littérature à ce sujet, ce qui a nécessairement un effet sur la façon d'apprendre des étudiants qui suivent des cours d'écriture. Cette thèse se termine par une discussion qui met en lumière ce qu'impliquent ces résultats et où sont émises certaines recommandations au sujet de l'évaluation en écriture dans un cours de L2.

Matching-to-sample usually involves the presentation of a stimulus, the sample, and several other stimuli, the matches, with the requirement that the subject find a stimulus in the latter array which matches the sample. ln visual matching-to-sample tasks the stimuli are often presented by means of a slide projector or card-changing apparatus, thus permitting the experimenter to control the duration and sequence of exposure. The subject indicates his choice by pointing to the matching stimulus, by pressing a pushbutton under the stimulus, or by pushing the stimulus directly to close a switch. [...]

Considerable interest has been shown in the phenomenon of rigidity and the establishment of its correlates and determiners. The purpose of the present paper is the experimental investigation of the relationship between behavioral rigidity and abstract-concrete mindedness. [...]

Very generally by rigidity the writer understands a personality phenomenon vmich is determined by past experience, present experience, constitution--all or any of these (if they be deemed separable). It functions as a persisting effect, resisting forces that tend to produce changes in behavior. [...]

This study was part of a larger study that investigated the effects of biliteracy instruction on 2nd-grade students' morphological awareness in English and French. In order to measure their morphological awareness, a test was designed in each of the two languages: The English and the French Morphological Awareness Test (MAT). The design of the current study aimed at answering two questions. The first one was about the components necessary to develop a viable instrument whose objective is to measure morphological awareness across languages. The second question pertains to the relationships among measures of vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness in each language. To that end, both versions of the MAT, plus four other measures (two to assess phonological awareness in English and French and the other two to determine receptive vocabulary knowledge in each language) were administered to 72 children who were English-dominant, French-dominant, or bilingual. The concept of lexical frequency was operationalized to design three different levels of difficulty on the MAT. Examiners and coders were carefully trained to administer and score the MAT, which contained two sections, with five items in each section borrowed from earlier studies that investigated morphological awareness. These items served the purpose of determining convergent validity, whereas the measures of phonological awareness and vocabulary were used to establish discriminant validity. The results of the statistical analysis indicate high levels of reliability and validity for both versions of the MAT. / Cette étude faisait partie d'une autre investigation plus grande sur les effets que l'instruction en biliteracité de deux langues aurait sur la conscience morphologique en anglais et en français avec des élèves de 2ième année. Afin de mesurer la conscience morphologique, on a créé un test dans les deux langues qui s'appelle le Morphological Awareness Test (MAT). La conception de cette étude avait l'intention de répondre à deux questions. La première question abordait les composantes nécessaires pour développer un test pour mesurer la conscience morphologique dans différentes langues. La deuxième question concernait la relation entre un test de conscience morphologique et des tests de conscience phonologique et de la connaissance de vocabulaire dans chaque langue. C'est pour cela que les deux versions du MAT et les quatre autres tests (deux pour évaluer la conscience phonologique en anglais et en français et les deux autres pour déterminer la connaissance réceptive de vocabulaire dans chaque langue) ont été donnés à 72 enfants qui avaient différents niveaux de bilinguisme, que ce soit un niveau prédominant en anglais ou en français ou même un niveau de bilinguisme presque égal dans les deux langues. La notion de fréquence lexicale a été opérationnalisé pour élaborer trois niveaux différents de difficulté dans le MAT. Les examinateurs et les évaluateurs ont été soigneusement formés à administrer et à corriger le MAT, lequel avait deux sections, avec cinq items dans chaque section qui ont été empruntés à des études antérieures qui examinaient la conscience morphologique. Ces items ont été utilisés pour déterminer la validité convergente, tandis que les tests de vocabulaire et de conscience phonologique ont servi pour établir la validité discriminante. Les résultats de l'analyse statistique indiquent de hauts niveaux de fiabilité et de validité pour les deux versions du MAT.

<p> High stakes testing has been imbedded into state and federal accountability systems as a result of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for over a decade. Historically, in Arizona educational accountability centered around the evaluation of schools. Arizona's school accountability system, AZLEARNS, used a combination of student proficiency, thresholds for the percent of students exceeding the standard, inter cohort growth, and individual student growth to assign school labels. These calculations were performed using student results from Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). Students were tested in grades three through eight and ten in Mathematics, Reading, Writing, and Science. AZLEARNS used several metrics to assign labels to public schools in Arizona. The labels ranged from Excelling to Failing and were predominately calculated using Mathematics and Reading AIMS test results. </p><p> In 2009, the Race to the Top (RTT) initiative prompted states to expand their educational accountability systems to include student achievement metrics in the evaluation of teachers and administrators. In Arizona, Senate Bill 1040 required districts to develop and implement a teacher evaluation instrument which includes 33% to 50% student achievement data. Districts were encouraged to include student performance on AIMS for teachers who directly instruct in the content areas of mathematics and reading. In addition to this shift of teacher accountability; in the 2010/2011 school year, Arizona developed the A-F School Accountability system which replaced AZLEARNS; a newly included metric in the AIMS data set, and the calculations of the letter grades in the A-F system is Student Growth Percentiles (SGP). SGPs accounted for fifty-percent of school and district grades under Arizona's A-F Accountability System. Arizona adopted a Value-Added Model (VAM) which incorporated up to three years of prior state assessment data which identified growth trajectories and assigned growth percentiles to each student. The Arizona VAM separated students into similar prior-year academic groups based on state assessments in Mathematics and Reading. Each student's SGP was calculated against only those students with similar academic performance. The A-F system used a combination of student proficiency and median growth percentiles in Mathematics and Reading AIMS scores. However, the specific usage of these metrics was not specified by SB 1040; consequently, districts throughout Arizona must decide which AIMS data to incorporate into the evaluation of teachers and administrators. This study examined a variety of calculation methodologies using student proficiency rates and SGPs in grades three through six on AIMS in a large suburban unified school district near Phoenix, Arizona to evaluate teacher effectiveness.</p>