The purpose of this study was to develop a test of academic readiness for first grade instruction in Thailand. Test of Academic Readiness (TAR) consists of six domains: verbal, visual, memory, math, logical, and general knowledge. Two pilot studies were carried out and a main study tested items in those domains. Rasch model was used to assess the…

Due to the relative inability of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to provide an accurate and reliable self-report, assessment in this population is more difficult than with individuals in the general population. As such, assessment procedures must be adjusted to compensate for the relative lack of information that the individual can…

The primary aim this study was to investigate whether a gross motor proficiency norm developed in one country could be applied to young children in another country. The secondary aim of the study was to assess the gross motor proficiency of Hong Kong preschoolers aged five years. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) (subtests…

This article is a review of applications of phenomenology, as a philosophy of knowledge and qualitative research approach, to the field of science education (SE). The purpose is to give an overview of work that has been done as well as to assess it and discuss its possibilities of future development. We ask: what attempts for connecting…

This article explores how the tensions that grow out of being a researcher in my community of queer Asian Americans lead to the formulation of a different kind of ethnographic approach. A hybrid notion of identity can require and inform a hybrid or poststructural ethnographic practice. This hybridized research method draws upon theoretical strands…

This article describes the use of a set of evidence-based quality indicators to assess performance by 15 NHS Boards across Scotland in a national review, with a particular focus on the quality of services for people with complex health needs. Evidence based best practice and evaluative data from previous inspections were used to develop Quality…

Background: The PAS-ADD Checklist is designed to screen for likely mental health problems in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The specificity of recommended subscales derived from diagnostic criteria is unclear. This paper therefore investigates the factor structure of the PAS-ADD Checklist to determine the adequacy of empirically…

In this chapter, the authors focus on issues of validity in measuring student learning as a prospective indicator of institutional effectiveness. Other chapters in this volume include reference to specific approaches to measuring student learning for accountability purposes, such as through standardized tests, authentic samples of student work,…

The term "intervention validity" refers to the extent to which assessment results can be used to guide the selection of interventions and evaluation of outcomes. In this article, the authors review the defining attributes of rating scales that distinguish them from other assessment tools, assumptions regarding the use of rating scales to…

This study developed an original instrument that measures pragmatic comprehension in Japanese as a foreign language (JFL). It examined the ability to comprehend implied meaning encoded in conventional and nonconventional features and the effect of proficiency on comprehension. There were 63 college students of Japanese at 2 proficiency levels who…

Student evaluations of advising (SEA) are often limited to student ratings of the faculty member's advising skills. As with teaching evaluations, ratings of SEA may not be the best reflection of the advisor's performance. In this study, the author analyzed SEA to determine the relationship between student characteristics and evaluation items.…

Since 1918, more than 280 measures of depressive severity have been developed and published. These measures differ in content, response format, and objectives. This article examines (a) the characteristics of scales developed in the past 80 years, and (b) the frequency with which different scales have actually been used in basic science and…

A foundational mission of our public schools is dedicated to preserving a democratic republic dependent on a literate and actively engaged citizenry. Civic literacy is essential to supporting the rights and responsibilities of all citizens in a democratic society. Civic knowledge is the foundation of our citizens' civic literacy. National…

A novel use of periodic functions, called the periodic procedure, was recently introduced to make practical the use of certain physical measurement ideas in psychology. This paper reports a successful attempt to apply the periodic procedure to an important psychological measurement problem, the measurement of aptitude test item difficulties. The…

The problem of selecting the size of the tails from a sample drawn from a distribution of test scores for item analysis study is discussed. (Author)