Educators use universal screening to identify students who may be at risk for not meeting proficiency on the state assessment. Given the potential high-stakes of state tests, using accurate screeners is critical. Independent research is emerging on screeners such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a computer adaptive test, and the…

Since classroom climate is inherently a group level phenomenon, we argue that measures shown to be valid and reliable in multi-level settings are needed. We propose a brief, 5-item measure of classroom climate and demonstrate its reliability and validity in multi-level structural equation models. The measure demonstrated good reliability and we…

Text reading fluency (TRF) is a common reading intervention target in second and third grade. TRF requires the integration of several skills that result in several pathways to dysfluent reading. However, when applying the drill-down approach to intervention targeting, practitioners are guided to consider students' rate and accuracy when reading…

Computational thinking (CT) has permeated primary and early childhood education in recent years. Despite the extensive effort in CT learning initiatives, few age-appropriate assessment tools targeting young children have been developed. In this study, we proposed Computational Thinking Test for Lower Primary (CTtLP), which was designed for lower…

Mathematical language (or the content-specific words in mathematics) has repeatedly shown to be related to mathematical abilities in preschool and in the early grades of primary education. Research in this field has predominantly focused on young children's quantitative and spatial language. At the same time, recent research has discovered that…

Inference is considered an important factor in comprehension models and has been described as a causal factor in predicting comprehension. To date, specific tests for inference are rare and often rely on specific thematic texts. This reliance on thematic inference may raise some concerns as inference is related to prior text-specific knowledge.…

Over a 6-year period, a sociolinguistic and sociocultural project was undertaken by Alaska Native expert educators and linguists (aka the Yup'ik Expert Group) from the Yup'ik community in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, Central Alaska. The native experts developed their own culturally sustainable, valid, and reliable Kindergarten through…

In this study, the psychometric properties of the Classroom Observation of Engagement, Disrespectful and Disruptive Behavior (COEDD), a systematic direct observation coding protocol designed to assess common school-based behavioral targets, were examined. Interobserver agreement and criterion-related validity were evaluated in a sample of 155…

Computational thinking is recognized as a vital skill related to problem-solving in technological and non-technological fields. The existence of different sub-domains related to this skill has been pointed out. Therefore, there is a need for tools that measure these different sub-domains. Because of its structure that includes different skills,…

Although there is a plethora of tools available to assess children's movement competence (MC), the literature suggests that many have significant limitations (e.g. not being practical for use in many 'real-world' settings). The FMS[superscript 2] assessment tool has recently been developed as a targeted solution to many of the existing barriers…

This study examined the technical adequacy of Picture Word, a type of Writing Curriculum-Based Measurement, with 73 English learners (ELs) with beginning to intermediate English language proficiency in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The ELs in this study attended schools in one midwestern U.S. school district employing an English-only model of instruction…

Purpose: Analysis of narrative language samples is a recommended clinical practice in the assessment of children's language skills, but we know little about how results from such analyses relate to overall oral language ability across the early school years. We examined the relations between language sample metrics from a short narrative retell,…

Reading motivation is multidimensional and a critical contributor to students' reading comprehension skill. Its multidimensionality is problematic, as there is currently no consensus on the dimensions underlying reading motivation, which are being tested through a variety of instruments that lack statistical validation. Our goal was to discuss the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate evidence of reliability, criterion validity, and grade-level differences of curriculum-based measures of writing (CBM-W) with 612 students in grades 1-3. Four scoring procedures (words written, words spelled correctly, correct word sequences, and correct minus incorrect word sequences) were used with…

Background: Dyslexia is a specific reading disability characterized by word recognition difficulties that can qualify a student for special education services under the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA; 2004; Yudin, 2015). As of 2024, 49 US states have legislation defining dyslexia and enumerating for schools…