The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale adapted for use with children (NEP-C) is one of the most frequently used measures of children's environmental beliefs. Though widely utilized, the limitations of the NEP-C instrument are often overlooked. Based on a systematic synthesis of existing literature examining the NEP-C, we argue that the scale…

Research on classroom motivational climates and microclimates--students' shared and idiosyncratic perceptions of motivational classroom features--demonstrates their importance for fostering adaptive motivational and achievement-related outcomes. However, a lack of coherent theoretical guidance about the nature of students' classroom climate…

A systematic search was conducted to identify measures of school climate developed and reported between 1993 to 2017. We coded data related to participant and setting characteristics, qualities of measures, amounts of validity evidence, and degrees of reliability estimates. Results indicated 9 school climate measures featuring disparate…

School climate refers to individual perceptions of moral, relational and institutional aspects of school life. A growing body of research has confirmed the importance of studying school climate for developing interventions able to reduce problem behaviours and to promote student and teacher wellbeing. However, the literature shows that research in…

The Sustainable Development Goals mandate that by 2030, all children should have access to quality early child development opportunities, healthcare and pre-primary education. Yet validated measures of ECD in low and middle income countries (LMICs) are rare. To address this gap, a Systematic Review (SR) of measures available to profile the…

Relative proximity theory contributes to the concept of distance in distance education by defining how far a current learning environment is from an ideal learning environment. As in Moore's (1993) theory of transactional distance, it defines distance as a psychosocial phenomenon but provides specificity to Moore's seminal theory for learning at a…

The present study is a systematic review of school climate measures developed for a Spanish-speaking K-12 population. Four instruments were included in the analyses representing data of 9,236 students with a mean of sample size of 2,309 students. Evidences for test content and internal structure were the most frequent representation of…

School climate measurement is a long-standing topic in educational research. This review article provides an overview and appraisal of school climate measures published between 2003 and 2013 in scientific journals. A search for published school climate instruments for secondary school students was made in three databases. Twelve articles meeting…

Periodic assessment and scrutiny of the discipline's measurement practices, instruments, and research findings are necessary to provide clarity and direction by revealing what we know, how we know it, and where the knowledge gaps exist. Reflective reviews have produced ample appraisals of the theory, research, and methods employed in the conduct…

The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is the most commonly used measure of adaptive functioning/impairment in mental health settings. Proposes that GAF scores may be influenced by factors other than functional impairment. Results reveal that GAF scores were strongly influenced by other factors, like symptom severity. Suggests that better…

The strengths of the scales were concentrated in the areas of domain and construct validity, weaknesses in the areas of discriminant validity, interobserver reliability, and decision-making reliability. (DB)

Describes modifications made in the original Learning Environment Inventory to enhance suitability for use in the elementary school and reports validation data from administration of the modified version to a sample of elementary school children. (Author/MP)

Describes the development of the College and University Community Inventory (CUCI), an instrument designed to measure the extent of community within colleges and universities for students. Article discusses the methods for establishing the instrument's validity and ascertaining reliability indices. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/GCP)

The present study describes the development and initial validation of the Coping with the College Environment Scale (CWCES). Participants included 433 college students who took an online survey. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed six coping strategies: planning and self-management, seeking support from institutional resources, escaping…

This investigation reports the development of a measure of adolescent connectedness and estimates of its psychometric properties. A measure was developed to assess the ecological and developmental dimensions of adolescent connectedness, defined as adolescents' caring for and involvement in specific relationships and contexts within their social…