K-12 educators' digital literacy skills have been designated as a national and state priority by education and accreditation agencies in Texas, resulting in the need for curriculum alignments to the 2017 ISTE Standards for Educators and implementation of a digital literacy evaluation. The purpose of this validation study was to develop a…

In 2016, with mounting pressure from parents, educators, and other stakeholders around the state pushing back against the volume of standardized tests students are required to take, the Texas Education Agency introduced the Texas Writing Pilot. This pilot was designed to study the feasibility of creating an alternative writing assessment that…

This article reports on the development and initial validation of the Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Self-Efficacy Scale. Data from 380 preservice and inservice teachers were used to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Exploratory factor analysis results suggested a one-factor structure consisting of 35 items and the…

The present study was used to examine the structural construct validity of the Professional Development Profile of the LoTi Digital-Age Survey, a measure of teacher instructional practices with technology in the classroom. Teacher responses ("N" = 2,840) from across the United States were used to assess factor structure of the instrument…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate scores generated from the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), a parent-rated measure, and those derived from professionally completed Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) evaluations. A cohort of 56 participants diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder was used for the study, and each child was…

Value-added evaluations use student test scores to assess teacher effectiveness. How student achievement is judged can depend on which test is used to measure it. Thus it is reasonable to ask whether a teacher's value-added score depends on which test is used to calculate it. Would it change if a different test was used? Specifically, might a…

This study examined the intended and unintended consequences associated with the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) as perceived and experienced by teachers in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). To evaluate teacher effectiveness, HISD is using EVAAS for high-stakes consequences more than any other district or state in the…

Despite questions about validity and reliability, the use of value-added estimation methods has moved beyond academic research into state accountability systems for teachers, schools, and teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Prior studies of value-added measurement for TPPs test the validity of researcher-designed models and find that measuring…

There is a lack of valid and reliable low cost observational instruments to measure moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in school physical education (PE). The participants in this study were third to tenth grade boys and girls from a south Texas school district. The SAM (Simple Activity Measurement) activity levels were compared with…

Student perceptions of classroom environment can provide useful criteria for evaluating educational alternatives. The My Class Inventory (MCI) was used with 588 3rd- to 5th-grade students in Texas in evaluating the effectiveness of instruction using a textbook, science kits, or a combination of both. Various analyses attested to the factorial…

Reliance on subjective grant proposal review methods leads private philanthropies to underfund mental health programs, even when foundations have mental health focuses. This article describes a private mental health foundation's efforts to increase the objectivity of its proposal review process by developing a reliable, valid proposal rating form.…

Although both theoretical and empirical literature suggests that individuals' family-of-origin experiences affect subsequent relationship functioning as adults, few studies have examined the appropriateness of family assessment techniques when applied retrospectively for use in either theory development or clinical applications. This study…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This testimony describes: (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic…

Officials with the National Center for Education Statistics asked the National Research Center's Board on Testing and Assessment to convene a workshop to assist them with their decisions about reporting results for accommodating test takers. The day-long workshop brought together four panels of representatives from state assessment offices,…

This article reports the validity and use of a new form of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES). As part of a larger study, a comparative student version (CLES-CS) was developed to evaluate the impact of an innovative teacher development program (based on the Integrated Science Learning Environment, ISLE, model) in school…