Empathy is an essential building block for successful interpersonal relationships. Atypical empathic development is implicated in a range of developmental psychopathologies. However, assessment of empathy in children is constrained by a lack of suitable measurement instruments. This article outlines the development of the Kids' Empathic…

Factor analysis has historically been used for myriad purposes in the social and behavioral sciences, but an especially important application of this technique has been to evaluate construct validity. Since in the present milieu both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are readily available to the researcher,…

The School Leaders' Licensure Assessment (SLLA) is a 6-hour, written, constructed-response test intended for use in the licensing of principals, headmasters, and other school leaders. The pilot test was administered in 1996 to 247 students who were within six credits of completing their graduate degree programs in educational leadership. About 36…

This study evaluated the reliability and construct validity of scores from the "Children's Role Inventory" (A. Potter and D. Williams, 1991). The measure specifies four roles fulfilled by children: Hero, Lost Child, Mascot, and Scapegoat. Theory and some research also suggest that adults continue to interact based on role assignments…

Examines and compares the characteristics of four computer attitude scales: (1) Stevens'"Computer Survey"; (2) Reece and Gable's "Attitudes toward Computers"; (3) Gressard and Loyd's "Computer Attitude Scale"; and (4) Griswold's "Computer Use Questionnaire." Attitudes toward computer scales are examined, and…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether the nature of leadership in Ohio Title I Schoolwide Project Schools that were deemed effective by the U.S. Department of Education differed from leadership in those Ohio Title I Schoolwide Project schools that were considered ineffective. The specific focus was to determine whether…

For assessments that present problems that require extended responses and substantial amounts of time, there is often a desire to allow students to choose which problem they will respond to among two or more options. Student choice of problem may allow students a better opportunity to demonstrate what they know and are able to do. On the other…

This paper discusses the efforts of the Department of Mathematics at the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) to determine the degree to which their courses support the published academic outcomes of the institution, and presents the results of a survey of student attitudes toward the academic outcomes. A survey questionnaire was developed…

Describes the development and validation of the Microcomputer Beliefs Inventory (MBI) that was designed to measure the self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs of middle school students in grades six, seven, and eight toward computers. Results are compared by grade level and gender, and uses of the MBI are suggested. (nine references) (LRW)

Describes the development of an instrument for evaluating building-level school library media programs based on "Information Power," the American Association of School Libraries' guidelines for such programs. Data collection at an Oklahoma teleconference is described, the use of factor analysis is explained, construct validity is…

The original "Bayley Scales of Infant Development" (BSID) (Bayley 1969) have been among the most popular measures of performance and aptitude of infants. In the present study the reliability and construct validity of mental and motor scores on the revised Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II (BSID-II) were investigated. A national…

Describes a study of medical students that was conducted to evaluate measures of performance on factual searches of INQUIRER, a full-text database in microbiology. Measures relating to recall, precision, search term overlap, and efficiency are discussed; reliability and construct validity are considered; and implications for future research are…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure of a Factors Influencing Pursuit of Higher Education (FIPHE) Questionnaire which addresses factors influencing a person's decision to pursue higher education. Researchers used a literature-based, rational factors approach to develop the questionnaire; the three-part study included a…