This article presents information on the development and initial validation of the 16-item Response to Intervention (RTI) Beliefs Scale. The scale is designed to measure the extent to which educators working in schools hold beliefs consistent with the tenets of RTI. The authors administered the instrument to 2,430 educators in 62 elementary…

Teachers' professional knowledge is assumed to be a key variable for effective teaching. As teacher education has the goal to enhance professional knowledge of current and future teachers, this knowledge should be described and assessed. Nevertheless, only a limited number of studies quantitatively measures physics teachers' professional…

The purpose of the mixed methods study was to develop and validate the CSIS-360, a 360-degree feedback assessment to measure competencies of school improvement specialists from multiple perspectives. The study consisted of eight practicing school improvement specialists from a variety of settings. The specialists nominated 23 constituents to…

Literature reveals that there are very few validated motor proficiency tests for young children. According to Gallahue and Ozmun, the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency is a valid test. However, manipulative skills, which are classified as gross motor skills by most motor development specialists, are only tested in the Upper Limb…

Internal and external coalition functioning is an important predictor of coalition success that has been linked to perceived coalition effectiveness, coalition goal achievement, coalition ability to support evidence-based programs, and coalition sustainability. Understanding which aspects of coalition functioning best predict coalition success…

This paper introduces the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS), an observation tool that targets children's interactions in preschool classrooms with teachers, peers, and tasks. In particular, initial evidence is reported of the extent to which the inCLASS meets the following psychometric criteria: inter-rater reliability,…

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have recently received waivers to the school accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As the prospects for reauthorizing the Act in the near term are dim, these new accountability systems will be law for at least several years. Drawing on a four-part framework from the…

Purpose: This research investigated the use of a dynamic assessment (DA) to identify differences among young children with severe disabilities, which would predict progress in learning behaviors indicating coordinated joint attention (CJA). Method: Six children 10-24 months of age were enrolled in a 16-week treatment for behaviors indicating CJA,…

Validity is a central principle of assessment relating to the appropriateness of the uses and interpretations of test results. Usually, one of the inferences that we wish to make is that the score reflects the extent of a student's learning in a given domain. Thus, it is important to establish that the assessment tasks elicit performances that…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an observation measure designed to assess classroom quality in inclusive preschool programs, the Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP). Developing the rating scale entailed systematic fieldwork in inclusive settings and review of the literature on preschool inclusion. Results from the validation…

Participation in shared-reading experiences is associated with children's language and literacy outcomes, yet few standardized assessments of shared-reading quality exist. The purpose of this study was to describe the psychometric characteristics of the Systematic Assessment of Book Reading (SABR), an observational tool designed to characterize…

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess college students' efficacy beliefs for conceptual change and to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Participants were 692 students. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized single factor structure of Efficacy Beliefs for Conceptual…

Recently graduated university students from all Australian Universities rate their overall departmental and university experiences (DUEs), and their responses (N = 44,932, 41 institutions) are used by the government to benchmark departments and universities. We evaluate this DUE strategy of rating overall departments and universities rather than…

"Participation"--defined as engagement in life situations, including leisure and recreational activities--is associated with the improvement of people with disabilities' quality of life. Several specific instruments assess leisure, but none of them has been adapted to the Spanish context. The goal of this study is to adapt and validate the Spanish…

A teacher evaluation system can be threatening to faculty, especially if used for summative decisions. Therefore, it is important to obtain valid and pertinent information. Since students are extensively exposed to course elements, students' evaluation of instruction should be one of several components in the teacher evaluation system. Since…