This study reports the evaluation of four positive psychology assessments for use in clinical, education, and research settings with individuals in Ghana, Africa. The analyses attempted to identify validity evidence for internal structure and relationships with related variables for the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS; Diener et al.…

An overview of standards related to demonstrating evidence regarding relationships with criteria as it pertains to instrument development was presented, along with heuristic examples. Additional measures and a comprehensive design are necessary to establish evidence related to the use and interpretation of test scores for the validation of a…

Special education professionals are charged with using evidence-based practices, but various unproven, disproven, and pseudoscientific interventions continue to proliferate. Unproven and ineffective interventions emerge and are adopted for various reasons. Ineffective interventions are inevitably harmful and require professionals to adopt a…

Advances in validity theory and alacrity in validation practice have suffered because the term "validity" has been used to refer to two incompatible concerns: (1) the degree of support for specified interpretations of test scores (i.e. intended score meaning) and (2) the degree of support for specified applications (i.e. intended test…

The Mapmark standard setting method was adapted to a higher education setting in which faculty leaders were highly involved. Eighteen university faculty members participated in a day-long standard setting for a general education communications test. In Round 1, faculty set initial cut-scores for each of four student learning objectives. In Rounds…

This article presents the validity bias review feedback and outcomes of new performance-based assessments to evaluate candidates seeking principal licensure. Until now, there has been little empirical work on performance assessment for principal licensure. One state recently developed a multi-task performance assessment for leaders and has…

The need for a robust evidence base able to demonstrate the impact of widening participation activity across the student lifecycle has been emphasised in recent guidance to the higher education sector. However, with competing demands on their time this is likely to represent a challenge for practitioners. Yet, there is wide recognition of the need…

In Gargani and Strong (2014), we describe The Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness (RATE), a new teacher evaluation instrument. Our account of the validation research associated with RATE inspired a review by Good and Lavigne (2015). Here, we reply to the main points of their review. We elaborate on the validity, reliability, theoretical…

This paper argues that the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be used to establish stronger links between educational effectiveness research (EER) and school improvement. It provides research evidence to support the validity of the model. Thus, the importance of using the dynamic model to establish an evidence-based and theory-driven…

We report findings of two exploratory validation studies of a revised instrument: the "Student Risk Screening Scale for Early Childhood" version (SRSS-EC). The SRSS-EC was modified to reflect characteristics of externalizing and internalizing behaviors manifested by preschool-age children. In Study 1, we explored the reliability of…

The absence of universally accepted definitions for direct and indirect assessment motivates the purpose of this article: to offer definitions that are literature-based and theoretically driven, meeting K. Lewin's (1945) dictum that, "There is nothing so practical as a good theory" (p. 129). The authors synthesize the literature to…

The purpose of this study was to revalidate an existing measure of knowledge, attitudes, and use of evidence-based practice (EBP) developed for medical students. Adapted to reflect social work, questionnaires were obtained from undergraduate and graduate social work students ("n"?=?134) and field instructors ("n"?=?50). All 4…

The Test of Everyday Reading Comprehension (TERC) has recently been presented as an addition to the armoury of tests available for assessing the skills of low-progress readers. While comparison data for students of different ages are presented together with evidence for high test reliability, there is, as yet, no published evidence for its…

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess college students' efficacy beliefs for conceptual change and to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Participants were 692 students. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized single factor structure of Efficacy Beliefs for Conceptual…

Background: Most instruments that assess quality of life have been validated by means of the classical test theory (CTT). However, CTT limitations have resulted in the development of alternative models, such as the Rasch rating scale model (RSM). The main goal of this paper is testing and improving the psychometric properties of the INTEGRAL…