Deficits in social communication and interaction have been identified as distinguishing impairments for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As a pivotal skill, the successful development of social communication and interaction in individuals with ASD is a lifelong objective. Point-of-view video modeling (VM) has the potential to…

This study further examined the Gifted Rating Scales (GRS) at the internal and external stages of test validation by (a) testing structural fidelity as indicated by the number of factors supported as well as the correspondence of the latent factor structure with the scoring model proposed by the authors and (b) examining the external relations of…

In this report I share the results of a document-based, comparative case study aimed at increasing our understanding about the potential utility of state kindergarten entry assessments (KEAs) to provide evidence of English learner (EL) kindergartners' knowledge and skills and, in turn, inform kindergarten teachers' instruction. Using a sample of 9…

This report contains reliability and validity evidence for the North Carolina Kindergarten Entry Assessment system (KEA) using a statewide sample of kindergarten children. The KEA was designed as a formative, developmental, authentic, and criterion referenced classroom resource for teachers. As a formative assessment, the KEA focuses on the…

Accurate and rapid identification of students displaying behavioral problems requires instrumentation that is user friendly and reliable. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a multi-item direct behavior rating scale called the Direct Behavior Rating-Multiple Item Scale (DBR-MIS) for disruptive behavior to determine the number of…

Measures of teaching are used internationally to understand and improve quality in early education with little consideration for ecological validity. In this study, we analyze videos gathered in 58 K-1 classrooms in Central Mexico to evaluate the validity and reliability of scores from an observational tool developed in the U.S. and used…

Over the past 8 years, U.S. kindergarten classrooms have been impacted by policies mandating or recommending the administration of a specific kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) in the initial months of school as well as the increasing reliance on digital technology in the form of mobile apps, touchscreen devices, and online data platforms. Using…

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…

Researchers examined the concurrent and predictive validity of a brief (12-item) teacher-rated school readiness screener, the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP), using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to examine associations between (N = 78) children's social-emotional (SE) and cognitive (COG) readiness with…

Preschool has been recognized as an optimal time to provide behavioral and emotional supports to children; however, there is a need to examine the stability, accuracy, and predictive validity of universal emotional and behavioral screening scores in early childhood to inform procedures for repeated screenings across time. The present study…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate, over 2 separate school years, the school-district-wide failure rate of kindergartners on a screener of grammatical tense marking--the Rice Wexler Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI) Screening Test (Rice & Wexler, 2001)--composed of past tense (PT) and third-person singular (3S)…

Background: Value-added modeling (VAM) has been used to rank teachers and assess teacher and school quality. The apparent relationship between value-added teacher rankings and gains in student performance provide a foundation for the view that the contribution of teachers to student performance is the largest factor influencing student…

This research investigates whether and how two fundamental environmental factors--harshness and unpredictability--interact in regulating child and adolescent development, informed by life-history theory and drawing on data from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N =…

The present study examines an ecological model for intervention use to explain student vocabulary performance in a multi-tiered intervention setting. A teacher self-report measure composed of factors hypothesized to influence intervention use at multiple levels (i.e., individual, intervention, and system level) was administered to 54 teachers and…

Within the K-12 online learning environment there are a variety of standards that designers can utilize when creating online courses. To date, the only research-based standards available are proprietary in manner. As such, many jurisdictions have begun adopting online course design standards from the leading advocacy organization, which that have…