This article is concerned with developing a measure of general academic ability (GAA) for high school graduates who apply to colleges, as well as with the identification of optimal weights of the GAA indicators in a linear combination that yields a composite score with maximal reliability and maximal predictive validity, employing the framework of…

There is empirical evidence to suggest that oral language and vocabulary on entering kindergarten are the best predictors of later reading success. Identifying skills that are predictive of later achievement using psychometrically sound measurement methods is a necessary component of early intervention efforts. Currently, there are limited methods…

Research Findings: High-quality caregiver-child interactions constitute the core of high-quality child care for young children. This article describes the background and development of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP) scales to rate 6 key skills of caregivers for interacting with 0-to 4-year-old children in child care centers: sensitive…

Behavioral mapping, a method designed to relate behaviors to circumplex models, was used to examine the predictive validity of the International Personality Item Pool-Interpersonal Circumplex (IPIP-IPC). In this study, 96 participants first completed the IPIP-IPC and then were videotaped in a social interaction with a confederate. At the…

Numerous studies suggest spirituality and subjective well-being (SWB) are positively associated. However, critics argue that popular spirituality instruments--including the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES)--contain items that conflate religiosity/spirituality (R/S), prosociality and SWB. Advocates of the DSES retort that, despite this…

The current study aimed to construct a questionnaire that measures students' personality traits related to "striving for understanding" and "learning value of geometry" and then examine its psychometric properties. Through the use of multiple methods on two independent samples of 402 and 521 middle school students, two studies…

Appraisal of the readiness of teachers to accept and use mobile devices for classroom instruction is a critical step whenever an expectation exists that the devices will be used to enhance student learning. Designing professional development requires assessment of teachers' readiness and willingness to embrace mobile learning for their students.…

Socioecological theory suggests that there are a range of influences that affect the physical activity levels of children, including parents' perceptions of the neighborhood. A questionnaire instrument to quantify parental neighborhood perceptions was developed for the Location of Children's Activity in Their Environment study as a potential…

To efficiently assess multiple psychological constructs and to minimize the burden on respondents, psychologists increasingly use shortened versions of existing tests. However, compared to the longer test, a shorter test version may have a substantial impact on the reliability and the validity of the test scores in psychological research and…

Business schools seek students who can evaluate, synthesize and extract the important information and sort out the noise from very large volumes of data. With the launch of the Integrated Reasoning section in June, the GMAT exam started measuring these skills, which are essential for learning in today's programs, are expected of those who intend…

There is a need to understand how environmental characteristics of a school influence the effectiveness of prevention efforts. Although researchers have discussed the importance of conducting needs assessments before implementing interventions, few of these types of assessments focus on the relational aspect. Furthermore, few assessments have the…

Background: Children's low scores on vocabulary tests are often erroneously interpreted as reflecting poor cognitive and/or language skills. It may be necessary to incorporate the measurement of word-learning ability in estimating children's lexical abilities. Aims: To explore the reliability and validity of the Dynamic Assessment of…

Compressed time from matriculation to graduation prevalent in executive graduate degree programs means that traditional methods of identifying deficiencies in student writing during the course of study may not provide timely remediation enabling for student success. This study examined a writing-intensive, 10-month executive graduate degree…

Data from 787 international undergraduate students at an urban university in the United States were used to demonstrate the importance of separating a sample into meaningful subgroups in order to demonstrate the ability of an English language assessment to predict the first-year grade point average (GPA). For example, when all students were pooled…

District and state education leaders frequently use screening assessments to identify students who are at risk of performing poorly on end-of-year achievement tests. This study examines the use of a universal screening assessment of reading skills for early identification of students at risk of low achievement on nationally normed tests of reading…