The aim of this study is to develop a measurement tool for self-efficacy perception to support early literacy skills. In the study, an item pool of 60 items was created by considering the relevant literature. The form was presented to the field experts who had studies in the relevant fields, and 5 items in the item pool of the scale were removed…

To better understand the writing skills of juvenile offenders and the components of their writing abilities, this study explored extant data from six measures of adolescents' writing skills administered upon their entrance into a juvenile justice facility. Overall, the 235 students (ages 13-16; Grades 5-11) exhibited low scores on all writing…

The Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of College Skills (DAACS) online system assesses newly enrolled college students' skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and self-regulated learning, and provides individualized feedback and links to resources. The purpose of this study is to examine validity evidence regarding the internal structure of…

This work uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to study Verbal Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (VSDTS), Reading Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (RSDTS) and Writing Skills Development Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (WSDTS) developed to identify classroom teacher candidates' perceptions of teacher…

According to the Simple View of Writing, four primary skills are necessary for successful writing (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Berninger & Winn, 2006). Transcription skills (e.g., handwriting, spelling) represent lower-order cognitive tasks, whereas text generation skills (e.g., ideation, translation) represent higher-order…

This study attempts to relate faculty feelings towards writing with writing genres, perceived competences and values associated to writing. 67 foreign languages faculty in Colombia and Spain voluntarily filled in a four-section on-line questionnaire entitled "The Writing Feelings Questionnaire." All the sections were Likert Scale type.…

In view of the lack of a short scale for the direct measurement of English language learning anxiety developed in the Egyptian context, this study aims to develop and validate a brief scale. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed using (362) EFL learners enrolled in first year at college of education, Minia University. Results of EFA…

Background: This study examined the factor structure of the Test of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP®) test--a recently developed academic English test measuring four skills among Japanese university applicants--and compared the structure to that of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT®), to investigate the…

This paper explores automated methods for measuring features of student writing and determining their relationship to writing quality and other features of literacy, such as reading rest scores. In particular, it uses the "e-rater"™ automatic essay scoring system to measure "product" features (measurable traits of the final…

Recent advances in the understanding of the relations between cognitive abilities and academic skills have helped shape a better understanding of which cognitive processes may underlie different types of SLD (Flanagan, Fiorello, & Ortiz, 2010). Similarities and differences in cognitive-achievement relations for children with and without SLDs…

This construct validation study investigated the factor structure of the Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM] Internet-based test (TOEFL[R] iBT). An item-level confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for a test form completed by participants in a field study. A higher-order factor model was identified, with a higher-order general factor…

This study investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of the high-stakes Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in both reading and writing at grade levels 4, 8, and 10. The data from the 2006 FCAT administration were analyzed via traditional multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) analysis to identify the factor structure and structural…

The psychometric properties of a scale assessing the writing self-efficacy of 1,258 students from Grades 4 to 11 were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis. Two factors emerged, 1 designating basic grammar skills and 1 designating more advanced composition skills. The Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (F. Pajares & G. Valiante, 1999) functioned…

The present study investigated the factor structure of a field trial sample of the Test of English as a Foreign Language™ Internet-based test (TOEFL® iBT). An item-level confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for a polychoric correlation matrix of items on a test form completed by 2,720 participants in the 2003-2004 TOEFL iBT Field…

What C-tests actually measure has been an issue of debate for many years. In the present research, the authors examined the hypothesis that C-tests measure general language proficiency. A total of 843 participants from four independent samples took a German C-test along with the TestDaF (Test of German as a Foreign Language). Rasch measurement…