Two-year public colleges educate more than 50% of all U.S. undergraduates, yet graduation rates (29%) fall far below their 4-year counterparts (63%). It is critical for students of 2-year public institutions that their faculty have the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to effectively guide students toward graduation. This study…

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) relies on the implementation efforts of frontline service providers such as teachers, administrators, and staff. The full version of the positive behavior interventions and supports--action and commitment tool (PBIS-ACT Full) measures the individual implementer variable of…

Preliminary findings indicate that positive relations between parents and teachers are associated with successful school outcomes for children. However, measures available to assess parent-teacher relations are scant. The current study examined validity evidence for the Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale-I (PTRS). Specifically, the internal…

This research looks closely at claims that ratemyprofessors.com creates a valid measure of teaching effectiveness because student responses are consistent with a learning model. While some evidence for this contention was found in three datasets taken from the site, the majority of the evidence indicates that the instrument is biassed by a halo…

In this study, Don't Know/Not Applicable (DK/NA) responses on a measure of academic behaviors associated with college readiness for high school students were treated with: (a) casewise deletion, (b) scale inclusion at the lowest level, and (c) imputation using E/M algorithm. Significant differences in mean responses according to treatment…

We expect that word knowledge accumulates gradually. This article draws on earlier approaches to assessing depth, but focuses on one dimension: richness of semantic knowledge. We present results from a study in which three distinct item types were developed at three levels of depth: knowledge of common usage patterns, knowledge of broad topical…

Social skills are an important part of development, and deficits in this area have long-term impacts on a child. As a result, clinicians should include a measure of social skills as part of a comprehensive assessment. There are a few well-researched measures of social skills that are currently used, including the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills…

The study investigated the criterion-related validity of the "Test of English as a Foreign Language"[TM] Internet-based test (TOEFL[R] iBT) Listening section by examining its relationship to a criterion measure designed to reflect language-use tasks that university students encounter in everyday academic life: listening to academic…

"JOBSTART" is an alternative education and training program designed to improve the economic prospects of young, disadvantaged high school dropouts by increasing educational attainment and developing occupational skills. The program has four main components: (1) basic academic skills instruction with a focus on GED (General Educational…