This study offers validity evidence for the Parental Academic Support Scale, a 16-item multidimensional measure that assesses support related to a child's academic performance, classroom behavior, preparation, hostile peer interactions, and health. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Parental Academic Support Scale (PASS) revealed a close model…

This study explores the impact of teachers' perception of trust in colleagues on their sense of empowerment in Mainland China, with a particular focus on the mediating role of teacher efficacy. The results of a survey of 1646 teachers indicate that although teachers scored positively on trust in colleagues, efficacy and empowerment, they had…

Large-scale studies, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), provide data to understand cross-national differences and similarities. In this study, we aimed to identify factors predicting mathematics achievement of Turkish students by comparing to Australian students. First, construct equivalence and item bias…

This study investigates the structure and cross-cultural (in)variance of mathematical self-beliefs in relation to mathematics achievement in two world regions: Confucian Asia (Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Europe (Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland, Serbia and Latvia). This is done both pan-culturally and at a multigroup-level,…

The OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) constitute two of the largest ongoing international student and teacher surveys presently underway. Data generated from these surveys offer researchers and policy-makers opportunities to identify particular educational…

This primary purpose of the study was to expand the work of Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001) by creating and psychometrically testing an instrument designed to measure teachers' perceptions of characteristics of professional development. Elementary teachers (n = 406) from five school districts in Washington State participating in a…

Extended time is one of the most common testing accommodations provided to students with disabilities. It is also controversial; critics of extended time accommodations argue that extended time is used too readily, without concern for how it changes the skills measured by tests, leading to scores that cannot be compared fairly with those of other…

The objective of this exploratory study of teacher beliefs was twofold: first, to determine whether the construct of academic optimism could be defined and measured as an individual teacher characteristic as it has been at the collective school level, and second, to identify sets of teacher beliefs and practices that were good predictors of…

The primary objective of this study was to compare the individual teacher interview scores from the Interactive Computer Interview System (ICIS) with their students' responses to "The Steps to Excellence Student Questionnaire". Specifically, the study examined the correlation among the teacher interviews across four themes of the ICIS ("Knowledge…

Using a multi-theory approach, the current study was designed to identify gender differences in the psychological mechanisms by which urban adolescents' motivation in physical education transfers into their leisure-time activities. The theoretical frameworks of Self-Determination Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior were integrated to…

It is generally believed that classroom learning experiences very much influence students' academic development. However, relatively little is known about whether classroom learning experiences have much effect on students' affective and social development. In this study, we argued for the importance of learning experiences on students' affective…

This study was designed to address two frequent criticisms of the SAT essay--that essay length is the best predictor of scores, and that there is an advantage in using more "sophisticated" examples as opposed to personal experience. The study was based on 2,820 essays from the first three administrations of the new SAT. Each essay was…

The validity of Holland's theory in the Croatian sample has been tested. The Croatian version of Holland's Self-Directed Search was applied on 1,866 Croatian adolescents from different age samples. The instrument has shown a good reliability of all RIASEC scales in all subsamples. Construct validity was also verified: The presence of circular…

The "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act has made schools accountable for assuring adequate yearly progress of students. Therefore, it has become critical to identify school-level variables that can be controlled to affect student achievement, especially given that, thus far, most school reform efforts have failed to significantly affect…