The effectiveness of representative teacher evaluation instruments for assessing the eligibility of public school teachers for merit pay was evaluated via a literature review. Elementary school principals' (N=200) ratings of teachers were analyzed. Rating instruments may be useful for making initial decisions about who should be eligible for…

Describes the development of the Computer Game Attitude Scale (CGAS) which evaluates student attitudes toward educational computer games and is based on the Computer Attitude Scale. Results of a study conducted with middle school students are discussed; these results indicate that the CGAS produced reliable test scores that may aid in evaluation.…

This article describes the Behavior Assessment System for Children, a multimethod, multidimensional approach to evaluating the behaviors and self-perceptions of children ages 2.6 to 18 years. The BASC contains a Teacher Rating Scale, a Parent Rating Scale, and a Child Self-Report of Personality. Its administration, reliability, and validity are…

This article describes the Comprehensive Assessment of Reading Strategies, a six-level diagnostic series for evaluating mastery of 12 reading strategies at each level by students in grades 3 through 8, as well as allowing for their metacognitive self-assessment. Its administration, standardization; reliability, and validity are discussed.…

Suggests that the claims of advocates of centralized standards and universal testing of schools must be questioned and that alternatives to testing should be considered for the educational output of schools. Argues that supporters have failed to consider the costs of national essay-type tests and the inherent problems of test reliability. (MJP)

This article describes the use of measures of functional assessment of essential activities in self-care, mobility, communication, and social cognition in preschool children. An overview of functional assessment is provided, and psychometric properties of the various tests are described. Case studies illustrate the value of using functional…

Examined psychometric characteristics of three 17-item measures of child care worker job demands, job control, and job resources. Found that job demands scale had lower reliability than job control or job resources. Demonstrated known groups validity through conceptually meaningful pattern of differences between family childcare providers and…

This study evaluated the validity, reliability, and utility of five of the six subtests of Clay's (2002) Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (OS), including Letter Identification, Word Reading, Writing Vocabulary, Hearing and Recording Sounds in Words, and Text Reading. In addition to a review of studies providing assessment of the…

Female athletes may be at greater risk for disordered eating than their nonathletic peers, but the psychological antecedents of this dysfunctional behavior in athletes have yet to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to develop an athletics-oriented measure of psychological predictors of disordered eating and to test its initial…

We review recent research on the presentation, nosology and epidemiology of behavioral and emotional psychiatric disorders in preschool children (children ages 2 through 5 years old), focusing on the five most common groups of childhood psychiatric disorders: attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, oppositional defiant and conduct disorders,…

In 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. In addition to providing additional funding for schools and encouraging local autonomy, the new law focuses on accountability in an attempt to close the achievement gap for all students, leaving no child behind. Perhaps the most striking manifestation of Bush's new law is the…

Objective: The aim was to construct and test the reliability (utility, internal consistency, interrater agreement) and the validity (internal validity, concurrent validity) of a scale for home visiting social nurses to identify risks of physical abuse and neglect in mothers with a newborn child. Method: A 71-item scale was constructed based on a…

This study investigated the chemistry laboratory classroom environment, teacher-student interactions and student attitudes towards chemistry among 497 gifted and non-gifted secondary-school students in Singapore. The data were collected using the 35-item Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI), the 48-item Questionnaire on Teacher…

This study examined the relevance of the Goal Instability Scale-Portuguese Adaptation (GIS-P) on the vocational identity and career certainty of 375 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade Portuguese high schoolers. After translating the GIS-P, confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factorial unidimensionality and reliability of the construct.…

Given the potential long-term outcomes of poorly developed mathematical skills, there is a need to understand the emergence and development of these skills in the context of improving educational experiences and ensuring better outcomes for preschoolers. The purpose of this article is to describe preliminary reliability and validity evidence…