This study utilized a quantitative research approach with a survey design to determine whether a sample of K-8 principals in the state of Illinois, that rated teachers in a set of classroom instructional videos, exhibited inter-rater reliability since they all received the Illinois state-approved training and certification for teacher evaluators.…

The Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) is a frequently used measure of mindfulness in school settings. This study evaluates the psychometric properties and internal consistency of the CAMM in a predominantly African American, low socioeconomic status (SES) school sample drawn from students in kindergarten through fourth grade. In…

This in-brief technical report documents the results from two different analytic approaches for examining the reliability of the slope for easyCBM® math measures in Grades K-8. Results varied by grade, assessment measure, and the analytic approach. Results patterns are discussed.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to overwhelm the functioning and outcomes of educational systems throughout the nation. The public education system is under particular scrutiny given that students, families, and educators are under considerable stress to maintain academic progress. Since the beginning of the crisis, school-systems…

This study focused on evaluating the temporal stability of self-reported and teacher-reported perceptions of students' social and emotional skills and assets. We used a test-retest reliability procedure over repeated administrations of the child, adolescent, and teacher versions of the "Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales".…

Many schools identified by states as needing improvement through their Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers have selected Response to Intervention (RTI), a three-tiered instruction program sometimes referred to as tiered levels of instruction, as one of their main strategies for improving school performance and closing achievement gaps.…

Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest assisted Milwaukee Public Schools in developing a fidelity monitoring system for measuring schools' progress in implementing Response to Intervention (RTI). The study examined the ratings produced by that system to determine the system's reliability, schools' progress in implementing RTI, and whether ratings…

Within a response to intervention (RTI) framework, students are administered multiple tests of equivalent difficulty. Changes in students' scores over time are then attributed to changes in learning. In the current study, we evaluated the reliability of score changes (i.e., slope) for the easyCBM[R] letter names, word reading fluency, and passage…

The Assessment of Afterschool Program Practices Tool ("APT"), developed by the National Institute of Out-of-School Time (NIOST), is an observational instrument designed to measure the aspects of afterschool program quality that research suggests contribute to the 21st century skills, attitudes, and behaviors youth need to be successful…

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 Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are brief measures of early literacy skills for students in Grades K-6 (University of Oregon, 2009; see Kaminski & Good, 1996). School psychologists and other educational professionals use DIBELS to identify students who are in need of early intervention. The purpose of this review was…

This article reviews the "Developmental Reading Assessment--Second Edition" (DRA2), a teacher-administered assessment that identifies students' instructional level, along with their strengths and weaknesses in reading. Once teachers calculate and interpret scores, the data can purportedly be used to inform, and possibly individualize,…

The present study examined the validity of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) [Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2006a). Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale. "Journal of Adolescence," 29, 589-611; Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2006b). Examining the relationship between low empathy and bullying. "Aggressive…

This article documents the development and use of a survey instrument designed to measure K-8 mathematics teachers' perceptions about discourse in mathematics classes. In particular, the 5-point Likert-type survey sought to address teachers' perceptions of their use of dialogic (dialogue to construct new meaning), univocal (conveying information),…

The Psychological Processing Checklist (PPC) is a teacher-completed rating scale published by Multi-Health Systems in North Tonawanda, New York. The checklist was published in 2003 along with a technical manual (Swerdlik, Swerdlik, & Kahn, 2003). The 35-item PPC purports to measure difficulties with psychological processing among children in…