A study investigated the effect of different diagnostic criteria on the identification of emotional or behavioral disorders in 3694 second-grade children. Results indicated the 13 different diagnostic combinations identified from 1.1% to 27.5% of the sample. Four of these combinations resulted in significant ethnic or gender bias. (Author/CR)

This study of an adolescent with multiple disabilities, including moderate mental retardation, who was reported to engage in validated facilitated communication (FC) found he did not engage in validated FC; performance was equivalent whether food or nonfood reinforcers were used; and the Picture Exchange Communication System was a valid and…

Draw-a-Person (DAP) samples from 108 adolescents and adults with mental retardation were scored using Naglieri's cognitive and emotional disturbance scoring systems. Visual-motor skills emerged as the best predictor of DAP cognitive scores, more predictive than intelligence. Findings suggest caution in using DAP as an index of intelligence or as a…

Evidence from test results of 3,604 sixth and seventh graders is provided for the generalizability and validity of the Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning (QUASAR) Cognitive Assessment Instrument, which is designed to measure program outcomes and growth in mathematics. (SLD)

Discusses teachers' self-perceptions of their teaching effectiveness in higher education. Topics include self-concept; student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETs); a multidimensional university teacher self-concept instrument and an evaluation of its psychometric properties; and a multitrait-multimethod analysis of relations between…

In the Games As Measurement for Early Self-Control (GAMES) study, a battery of self-regulation assessments appropriate for use with ethnically diverse children from low-income families was created. Respondents were 71 English- and/or Spanish-speaking children. Findings indicate that many laboratory and clinical assessments are appropriate for home…

Investigates the relationship between students' achievement expectations and academic self-concept and their subsequent achievement in college chemistry. Findings suggest that students' academic self-concept and achievement expectations are significant predictors of overall grade performance whereas prior achievement was the only significant…

Considers the competing demands placed on evaluators in relation to the service (characteristics of the intervention), the sample (people participating), and methodology or research design. Explores compromises that may be required between scientific ideals and real-world limitations, and assesses implications for obtaining meaningful results in…

Analysis of data from 661 students with cultural-familial mental retardation yielded a 37-item, 7-scale personality instrument that confirmed five hypothesized factors of Positive Reaction Tendency, Negative Reaction Tendency, Effectance Motivator, Expectancy of Success, and Outerdirectedness and identified two additional factors of…

Two studies examined the validity of a self-report instrument that assesses occupational stressors in teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Differences were found in the stress management resources of low and high scoring EBD teachers on the measure and between scores of EBD and general education teachers, although…

The Minnesota Child Development Inventory-Spanish Version, a parental report assessment, was completed for 1,043 Hispanic migrant worker children (ages 12-71 months). This assessment is widely used for screening and assessment within migrant early intervention programs. Overall, the assessment was a reliable instrument for children in the 24-…

Proposes a treatment-validity model for the identification of learning disabilities. The four-phase eligibility-assessment process would include evaluating adaptations in the regular classroom and verifying the effectiveness of special education before placement. Considers the technical requirements of this alternative eligibility process, and the…

This article describes the development and validation of a biographical data (biodata) measure and situational judgment inventory (SJI) as useful predictors of broadly defined college student performance outcomes. These measures provided incremental validity when considered in combination with standardized college-entrance tests (i.e., SAT/ACT)…

This study tested the factor structure of coping and stress responses in Navajo adolescents and examined the reliability and validity of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smith, Compas, Wadsworth, Thomsen, & Saltzman, 2000) with this population. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a correlated five-factor model of…

Despite evidence that school factors are associated with differences in various types of student behavior, little research has explored the predictive utility of school factors for school-level substance offense rates. Using data from the State of Florida Department of Education and the Census, we explore the associations between school climate…