Content validity and reliability of the Brief Assessment of Motor Function (BAMF) Upper Extremity Gross Motor Scale (UEGMS) were evaluated in this prospective, descriptive study. The UEGMS is one of five BAMF ordinal scales designed for quick documentation of gross, fine, and oral motor skill levels. Designed to be independent of age and…

Recent studies report that the use of rubrics may not improve the reliability of assessment if raters are not well trained on how to design and employ them effectively. The intent of this two-phase study was to test if training pre-service and new in-service teachers in the construction, use, and evaluation of rubrics would improve the reliability…

The present study examined the normative scores and psychometric properties of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) within a non-treatment-seeking sample of soldiers deployed to combat zones in Iraq, compared with a sample of community adults matched with respect to age and gender. Results indicate the scores and properties of…

Determining the candidate teachers' opinions regarding self-efficacy towards alternative assessment will be beneficial in that this will improve their competencies while using these approaches in their applications within the classroom. In this article, the development and validation of the "Self-efficacy towards Using Alternative Assessment…

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the eight-item Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)-mini and its validity in relation to the 72-item version DESSA. The sample included teacher ratings for 1,234 children in kindergarten through eighth grade who comprised the standardization sample. The median alpha reliability…

The objective of this research was to study whether ability climate was a useful construct in exploring the possible pattern by which abilities were valued in the countries and cultures of Europe. Based on Moscovici's theory of social representations lists of famous and notable individuals published by the "Wikipedia Encyclopedia" were…

The Engaged Learning Index was designed by the authors to assess students' emotional, intellectual, and behavioral engagement in learning in a brief format that can be used in single courses or across multiple courses and institutions. In this study, evidence is presented for the reliability and predictive validity of the instrument based on a…

Two tests intended to measure student achievement of the Common Core State Standards will face intense scrutiny, but the test makers say they will include performance assessments and other items that are not multiple-choice questions. Incorporating performance items on this tests will bring up issues over scoring, costs, and validity.

Background: Burnout has been considered important to understanding the well-being of workers in the intellectual disabilities (ID) field and the quality of services delivered to clients/consumers. However, little research has examined the psychometric properties and applicability to staff in ID services of one of the most widely used burnout…

Objectives: The present investigation reports on the development and initial validation of a new analog task, the Parent-Child Aggression Acceptability Movie Task (P-CAAM), intended to assess respondents' acceptance of parent-child aggression, including both physical discipline and physical abuse. Methods: Two independent samples were utilized to…

People with intellectual disabilities are exposed to a high number of adverse life events, and evidence supports a link between the experience of adverse life events and trauma. Interventions for trauma have been found to be efficacious if case recognition can be facilitated. However to date there are no psychometrically validated measures of…

A top priority in the field of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is the development of precise early diagnostic tools that can be completed with minimal time and training. We report on the convergent and divergent validity of the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT), specifically the BISCUIT-Part 1. Previous research with…

The psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale-Short Form (APS-SF) were studied in a sample of 656 Portuguese adolescents, aged 12 to 19 years, assessed in school context. Also, the aim of the study was to gather data concerning age- and gender-related differences in the expression of psychopathological…

A lack of toileting skills is one of many impairments that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience. Unfortunately, little research has focused on problems in this area including assessment, function, and treatment. A newly developed checklist, the "Profile of Toileting Issues" ("POTI"), is being considered for use…

This article presents initial findings from a study examining "First Sound Fluency" (FSF), which is a brief measure of early phonemic awareness (PA) skills. Students in prekindergarten and kindergarten (preK and K) were assessed three times (fall, winter, and spring) over one school year, which resulted in multiple reliability and…