This study (a) provided a conceptual introduction to differential item functioning (DIF), (b) introduced the multifaceted Rasch rating scale model (MRSM) and an associated statistical procedure for identifying DIF in rating scale items, and (c) applied this procedure to previously collected data from American coaches who responded to the coaching…

The Youth Self Report (YSR) is a popular and widely used instrument assessing adolescent emotional and behavioral functioning. The goals of the present study were to address some of the limitations of the YSR, to examine its factor structure and equivalence across four racial/ethnic groups, and to determine if another combination of items could…

Many instruments for school self-evaluation have become available in primary education; however, they vary in focus, quality and type (e.g., questionnaires, tests, observations, classroom consultation, quality maps, quick scans, etc), creating problems for schools in selecting instruments fitting their specific situations. Research has been…

Multicultural education is "a democratic approach to teaching and learning that seeks to foster cultural pluralism within culturally diverse societies and an interdependent world." Multicultural teacher education is the effort to produce professional educators who are both committed to the ideals of multicultural education and competent…

Reliability and validity of three current instruments (Feminist Identity Scale [FIS], Feminist Identity Development Scale [FIDS]J Feminist Identity Composite [FIC]) used to operationalize Downing and Roush's model of feminist identity development were compared. A sample of 245 women completed all three instruments, and a separate sample of 35…

Single equation regression models have been used to test the effect of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on student retention. These models, however, fail to account for the two salient features of SI attendance and retention: (1) both SI attendance and retention are categorical variables, and (2) are jointly determined endogenous variables. Adopting…

Purpose: The purpose of the two studies described in this paper was to assess whether adults with dementia could assume an advice-giving role (Study 1) and a teacher role (Study 2) despite their cognitive impairments. So far, no research on adults with dementia has compared language production in a social conversation condition with that in an…

Empirical evidence of no age-related decline in life satisfaction (LS) in old age contrasts with frequently observed declines in the objective quality of elder people's lives and has therefore been labelled a "paradox" and interpreted in terms of stability of LS in the respective gerontological discussion. However, as this evidence was…

The labor quality index (LQI) not only serves as an important reference for monitoring the progress of the sustainable development of a country, but it can also serve as an important parameter for economic analysis. To compile such an index for Taiwan, we conducted two large-scale surveys of 1000 major enterprises and 844 union leaders,…

The undermining effect of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation remains unproven. The key unresolved issues are construct invalidity (all four definitions are unproved and two are illogical); measurement unreliability (the free-choice measure requires unreliable, subjective judgments to infer intrinsic motivation); inadequate experimental…

This report summarizes results of Austin Independent School District's 2006-2007 student climate survey, given to students in grades 3 through 11.

A cursory examination of current measurement texts used in teacher education reveals a treatment of such topics as test reliability, item analysis, and test interpretation based largely upon classical test theory. In the meantime, the landscape of the classroom has been significantly impacted by a growing emphasis on more authentic assessment…

The aim of this study was to construct and validate a biographical inventory to measure personality traits that are predictive of leadership. The experimental inventory, consisting of tentative scales for Dominance, Emotional Stability, Need for Achievement, Self-Confidence, and Sociability, was administered to 642 incoming midshipmen at the Naval…

Current practice in language testing has not yet integrated classical test theory with assessment of language skills. In addition, language testing needs to be part of theory development. Lack of sound testing procedures can lead to problems in research design and ultimately, inappropriate theory development. The debate over dimensionality of…

Tables of specifications are used to guide test developers in sampling items and maintaining consistency from form to form. This paper is a generalizability study of the American College Testing Program (ACT) Achievement Program Mathematics Test (AAP), with the content areas of the table of specifications representing multiple dependent variables.…