Limited research exists on rural student academic aspirations from a counseling perspective. Much of the existing research focuses on the high school years and their implications for college. This study explores the relationship between place attachment, academic self-efficacy, and academic aspirations in rural elementary students. The sample…

The Pennsylvania Department of Education's (PDE's) Office for Safe Schools partnered with REL Mid-Atlantic to conduct a study using data from PDE's school climate survey. This survey, which is available on a voluntary basis to any school in the state, provides a way to track school climate and identify schools that need additional support to…

These are the appendixes for the full report, "Changes in School Climate during COVID-19 in a Sample of Pennsylvania Schools." The REL study analyzed changes in scores from a pre-pandemic year (2018/19) to the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, both of which were affected by COVID-19 and related policy changes. These technical appendixes…

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition (ECERS-3) is the latest version of one of the most widely used observational tools for assessing the quality of classrooms serving preschool-aged children. This study was the first assessment of its factor structure and validity, an important step given its widespread use. An ECERS-3…

Curriculum-based measures (CBMs) are necessary for educators to quickly assess student skill levels and monitor progress. This study examined the use of the alphabet writing fluency task, a CBM of writing, to assess handwriting fluency--that is, how well children access, retrieve, and write letter forms automatically. In the current study, the…

Curriculum-based measures (CBMs) are necessary for educators to quickly assess student skill levels and monitor progress. This study examined the use of the alphabet writing fluency task, a CBM of writing, to assess handwriting fluency--that is, how well children access, retrieve, and write letter forms automatically. In the current study, the…

This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed four key properties of the FFL: score variation, internal consistency, year-to-year stability, and concurrent validity. Score…

This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed four key…

This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed three key properties of the FFL: internal consistency, score variation, and concurrent validity. To measure the internal consistency…

A new study analyzed data from the 2012/13 pilot of the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. Based on the FFL scores of 336 principals and 69 assistant principals evaluated by their supervisors in the 2012/13 school year, this interim report found that…

The Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) is a 60-item test for measuring abstract reasoning, considered a nonverbal estimate of fluid intelligence, and often included in clinical assessment batteries and research on patients with cognitive deficits. The goal was to develop and apply a predictive model approach to reduce the number of items…

This study provides initial evidence supporting intended score interpretations for the purpose of assessing opportunity to learn (OTL) via an online teacher log. MyiLOGS yields 5 scores related to instructional time, content, and quality. Based on data from 46 middle school classes, the evidence indicated that (a) MyiLOGS has high usability, (b)…

In recent years, the construct of character has received substantial attention among developmental scientists, but no consensus exists about the content and structure of character, especially among children and early adolescents. In a study of positive development among racially diverse Cub Scouts in the greater Philadelphia area, we assessed the…

The Major Field Test in Psychology (MFT) is a standardised test designed to assess subject mastery at the conclusion of an undergraduate career. Eighty-one graduating majors completed the MFT and 56 of them also took a multiple-choice exam of questions drawn randomly from an introductory psychology test bank. Like the MFT, the constructed exam was…

Concurrent and predictive validity between the Retell Reading Rubric (RRR), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), an adaptation of the DIBELS Retell Fluency (RTF-A), and a state assessment emphasizing reading comprehension were examined across students in grades 3 and 5. Results showed the RRR to have moderate and statistically significant relationships to…