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…

Standardized portfolios are being used by teachers and teacher candidates to demonstrate subject matter knowledge for certification or to be considered highly qualified; however, the psychometric adequacy of data used for this purpose has not been evaluated. In the current study, we examined the interscorer reliability, concurrent, predictive, and…

The 1990s and early 2000s saw the increased development of advanced training, skills standards, and certification exams by private organizations in the United States. Employers began accepting these skill certifications in lieu of traditional on-the-job training, thereby encouraging employees to acquire more credentials. This article examines the…

Our purpose in this report is to evaluate scientifically that body of literature relating the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) upon neurobehavioral, health-related, and cognitive deficits in neonates, developing infants, children, and adults. The data derive from seven cohorts: six cohorts of mothers…

Classroom teachers need effective, efficient strategies to prevent and/or ameliorate destructive student behaviors and increase socially appropriate ones. During the past two decades, researchers have found that cognitive strategies can decrease student disruption/aggression and strengthen pro-social behavior. Following preliminary pilot work, we…

The relationships among teacher occupational stressors, self-efficacy, coping resources, and burnout were investigated in a sample of 247 Spanish secondary school teachers. Concretely, two specific aims were formulated in order to examine the effect of teaching stressors on teacher burnout and the role of self-efficacy and school coping resources…

A description is made of the first steps taken towards the development of a model of epistemic beliefs, which is conceptually based on the learning process. In two studies, which were conducted in the domains of mathematics and physics, a quest was made to secure the first evidence of the usefulness of the model. The most important results of the…