Initial steps in creating a developmentally valid tool for observing/assessing rope jumping

Background: Valid motor development sequences show the various behaviors that children display as they progress toward competence in specific motor skills. Teachers can use these sequences to observe informally or formally assess their students. While longitudinal study is ultimately required to validate developmental sequences, there are earlier, pre-longitudinal steps that can be used to screen hypothesized sequences to see if they are worthy of the time and expense of longitudinal study. These same steps can also provide teachers with preliminary tools for observation/assessment. Purpose: At the request of physical educators in a midwestern suburb in the United States, the investigators screened developmental sequences for the action of arms and legs in self-turned rope jumping. The goal was to create a preliminary assessment tool that could be used in physical education classes. Participants: The physical educators took videos of 216 children attempting to jump rope. The children were 5–10 years of age. Data analysis: The investigators categorized the videos using the hypothesized developmental sequences as a checklist. The incidence of each level in the sequences was then graphed to see if the percentages of occurrence rose and fell across age as would be expected if the levels were developmentally valid. The investigators also looked at whether children who varied their behavior across trials varied only to adjacent levels in the sequences. Results: Results indicated that one hypothesized arm category was not developmental, and two leg categories needed further study in younger children. Based on these results, the investigators modified the proposed sequences and provided decision rules so teachers could use them as preliminary observation/assessment tools.     

Archeological and Natural Resource Collections of the National Park Service: Opportunities and Threats

Archeological and natural resource collections are nonrenewable and become increasingly valuable over time. Some would argue that collections and collecting have been severely threatened by decreasing financial and other support, especially over the last decade. However, this situation does not fully apply to the National Park Service (NPS). NPS archeological and natural resource collections have grown, as has the rate of collecting, though less than 2% of NPS collections are natural resource specimens, whereas 52% are archeological. (The other 46% are historical, ethnographic, and archival collections.) When the NPS began compiling annual statistics in 1983, it found that the rate of collecting far exceeded the rate of cataloguing. In addition, many collections were stored or exhibited in substandard conditions. The NPS developed a strategy identifying the problems and estimating the cost for correction. The plan influenced Congress to increase appropriations to the NPS for collections management, which, from 1988 through 1994, have totaled $26.7 million. Following the lead of the NPS, the Department of the Interior has adopted a similar strategy.     

Normative data and reliability estimates for eight dimensions of reading attitude

The Survey of Reading Attitudes was administered to a sample of 159 fifth graders and 156 sixth graders enrolled in a middle school in rural Northeastern Ohio. The 92 attitudinal items comprising the Survey were read aloud by the teacher while the students followed along reading silently from their booklets. Statistical analysis consisted of computing means, standard deviations, standard errors of measurement, and coefficient alpha reliability estimates for the eight dimensions of reading attitude included in the Survey. The reliability estimates ranged from .89 for Reading as Enjoyment and .88 for Expressed Reading Difficulty to .74 for Reading Group and .76 for Reading as Direct Reinforcement. The reliability estimates for the other four dimensions were as follows: Alternative Learning Modes, .79; Reading Anxiety, .78; Silent vs. Oral Reading, .78; and Comics, .77.     

Relationship between PPVT and WISC-R in children with reading disabilities

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), Form A was compared to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in two samples of children with reading disabilities. One group of 14 children, referred to a university clinic, were administered the WISC-R, followed by the PPVT. The second group of 38 children from a private learning disability center were administered the PPVT first, followed by the WISC-R. In the combined sample, the PPVT IQ (X̄ = 109.2) was significantly higher than the WISC-R Verbal IQ (X̄ = 98.9), Performance IQ (X̄ = 97.0), and Full Scale IQ (X̄ = 97.5). Similarly, the PPVT IQ was significantly higher than the WISC-R Full Scale in both samples separately, regardless of which test was administered first. In one case, the PPVT IQ was 50 points higher than the WISC-R IQ. Correlations between the PPVT and WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were significant (rs = .56, .29, and .50, respectively). The results suggest that the two tests do not provide interchangeable IQs for a population of reading disabled children.     

The Slosson as a predictor of Wide Range Achievement Test performance

This study investigated the efficacy of predicting academic achievement as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test, using the Slosson Intelligence Test For Children and Adults as the predictor. Ninety-five children referred for psychological evaluations in a five-county area in southeastern Nebraska were given both instruments, and a regression analysis was conducted where the Slosson IQ scores were separately regressed on Reading, Spelling and Arithmetic standard scores from the Wide Range Achievement Test. The results indicated that the Slosson IQ significantly predicts Wide Range standard scores. Derived regression equations are reported.     

A primer-test centered equating method for setting cut-off scores

This study evaluated the use of a new primary field test method based on test equating to address inconsistent classification among field tests. We analyzed students' information on the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), mile run (MR), and VO2max from three data sets (college: n = 94; middle school: n = 39; elementary school: n = 96). Using the college and elementary school data, the equivalent relationship between PACER and MR scores was first established by the Kernel equating method. This yielded MR scores derived from PACER (mile run PACER equated [MR PEQ]), which were used to predict maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and classify students according to the FITNESSGRAM Healthy Fitness Zones. We compared the results to the predictions and classifications based on measured VO2max, MR and PACER-predicted VO2max and cross-validated the relationships using the middle school data. We found the test conversion to be accurate and that the MR PEQ scores functioned similarly to the original MR scores. Both performed better than the original PACER scores in predicting VO2max and classifying students. The middle school data generally supported these results. The proposed method is accurate and effective in setting a new field test onto the same scale of a primary field test and determining its cut-off scores.