This book explores research on processes that influence family-school partnerships in support of student learning and education. It highlights research related to culture, contexts, and development as families and schools work together to promote smooth transitions and academic achievement. The volume discusses research related to family and…

This guide is designed to help researchers make sure that their research reports include enough information about study measures so that readers can assess the quality of the study's methods and results. The guide also provides examples of write-ups about measures and suggests resources for learning more about these topics. The guide assumes…

Background: Youth programs often rely on self-reported data without clear evidence as to the accuracy of these reports. Although the validity of self-reporting has been confirmed among some high school and college age students, one area that is absent from extant literature is a serious investigation among younger children. Moreover, there is…

This study was designed to determine the number of days of pedometer monitoring necessary to achieve reliable and valid estimates of a 1-year average of step counts in adults based on either consecutive days (CD) or random days (RD) of data collection. Twenty-three participants (16 women; M age = 38 years, SD = 9.9) wore a Yamax SW 200 pedometer…

As the education reform movement increasingly focuses on teachers and teaching, educators, policy-makers, and researchers need valid and reliable measures that can be used to evaluate individual teachers, provide guidance for improving teaching performance, and support research in ways that advance instruction and classroom dialog and practice. A…

This article describes the core features of outcome research and then explores issues confronting researchers who engage in outcome studies. Using an intervention research perspective, descriptive and explanatory methods are distinguished. Emphasis is placed on the counterfactual causal perspective, designing programs that fit culture and context,…

The reliability of a new scale to assess Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger's Disorder in children was examined. Parents or other caregivers rated symptoms of 207 children between 2 and 16 years of age. The scale, which had 40 items in the final version, correlated highly with…

The most commonly used measures of locus of control are Rotter's Internality-Externality Scale (I-E) and Nowicki and Strickland's Internality-Externality Scale (NSIE). A reliability generalization study is conducted to explore variability in I-E and NSIE score reliability. Studies are coded for aspects of the scales used (number of response…

The impact of biotechnologies on peoples' everyday lives continuously increases. Measuring young peoples' attitudes toward biotechnologies is therefore very important and its results are useful not only for science curriculum developers and policy makers, but also for producers and distributors of genetically modified products. Despite of…

Research has consistently shown that principal leadership matters for successful schools. Evaluating principals on the behaviors shown to improve student learning should be an important leverage point for raising leadership quality. Yet principals are often evaluated with the use of instruments with no theoretical background and little, if any,…

This article discusses how methodological practices can shape and limit how mixed methods is practiced and makes visible the current methodological assumptions embedded in mixed methods practice that can shut down a range of social inquiry. The article argues that there is a "methodological orthodoxy" in how mixed methods is practiced…

A method for point and interval estimation of change in criterion validity of multiple-component measuring instruments as a result of revision is outlined. The procedure is developed within the framework of covariance structure modeling, which complements earlier methods for testing change in composite reliability due to addition or deletion of…

Meta-analytic reliability generalizations (RGs) are limited by the scarcity of reliability reporting in primary articles, and currently, RG investigators lack a method to quantify the impact of such nonreporting. This article introduces a stepwise procedure to address this challenge. First, the authors introduce a formula that allows researchers…

The purpose of the present study was to meta-analytically investigate the score reliability for the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Four-hundred and sixteen articles using the measure were located through electronic database searches and then separated to identify studies which had calculated reliability estimates from their own data. Sixty-two…

It has been suggested that both internal (e.g., acceptability) and external (e.g., feasibility) factors should be taken under consideration in order to fully understand children's usage of interventions designed to improve their behavior. The purpose of this study was to initiate development of a student self-report measure (Children's Usage…