Transversal skills describe a broad spectrum of skills that are considered to be essential for thriving in today's society and tackling the challenges of the twenty-first century. Therefore, a high demand is placed on educators to teach these skills to their students. Unfortunately, the conceptualization of transversal skills remains vague with…

"Grit" is defined as passion and perseverance for achieving long-term goals and consists of two proposed subcomponents: consistency of interests and perseverance of effort. It has become a much-discussed construct even though research on its underlying factor structure has produced inconclusive results. Furthermore, grit as measured by…

Empirical evidence of Asian students' traditional citizenship values was provided in the Asian Regional Module (ARM) of the International Civic and Citizenship Study. This paper is based on a secondary analysis of the ARM data. Three issues are addressed. First, a theoretical analysis of the ARM constructs contributes to their construct validity.…

Background: The potential role of culture in the development and operation of self-efficacy has been acknowledged by researchers. Clearer understanding of this cultural impact will benefit from research that shows how the same efficacy information is evaluated across cultures. Aims: We tested whether two sources of self-efficacy information…

Out-of-school time (OST) youth programs are inherently difficult to assess. They are often very dynamic: Many youth interact with one another and with staff members in various physical environments. Despite the challenge, measuring quality is critical to help program directors and policy makers identify where to improve and how to support those…

The use of parenting measures that are developed for use with Western families without testing their validity among families from non-Western cultural backgrounds may not be appropriate. Similar parenting behaviors may affect child outcomes in different ways across different cultures. This study examined the cross-cultural validity of an…

This study investigated cross-cultural differences in the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Young Schema Questionnaire (short form; YSQ-SF). The participants were 712 Chinese undergraduate students. The total sample was randomly divided into two sub-samples. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on questionnaire results…

This article outlines shortcomings of currently used university admissions tests and discusses ways in which they could potentially be improved, summarizing two projects designed to enhance college and university admissions. The projects were inspired by the augmented theory of successful intelligence, according to which successful intelligence…

This study was undertaken to shed light on problems concerning the construction and use of a common test battery for various South African population groups. Specifically, the psychometric suitability for use with Indian and Black pupils, of the Junior Aptitude Tests (JAT), which were standardized for White pupils in Standard 7 was studied. The…

This paper analyzes research findings about the role of values and beliefs in aptitude testing. Indications are found that the ongoing controversy over the lack of ethnic, racial, and sex fairness in aptitude testing is rooted in the tests themselves. Test designers, it is argued, are influenced by their socioeconomic position (they are usually…

Recent harsh criticisms that educational and psychological tests are unfair and inadequate measures of the capabilities of minority, poverty, and other educationally alienated groups are discussed. The authors suggest that there are two main issues, the first scientific, the second ethical: (1) Is a test a valid measure of the characteristics it…

This paper presents preliminary results regarding the predictive validity of learning potential tests administered in an exploratory study in Rotterdam (Holland) concerning the referral of minority students to special education. The central question of the study was why some students of Surinamese, Turkish, and Moroccan origin were placed in…

This study investigated how predictive the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; B. J. Vandiver, W. E. Cross, F. C. Worrell, & P. Fhagen-Smith, 2002), a measure of Black racial identity, was of African American cultural practices, beliefs, and attitudes (i.e., enculturation) as measured by the African American Acculturation Scale-33 (H. Landrine & E.…

Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…

THE PREDICTIVE ABILITY OF TWO INTELLIGENCE TESTS ON A CROSS-CULTURAL SAMPLE WAS STUDIED. THE STANDARD PROGRESSIVE MATRICES AND THE D. 48 TEST WERE ADMINISTERED TO 1,579 GIRLS IN GRADES 9 THROUGH 12. OTHER TEST SCORES WERE OBTAINED FROM STUDENT RECORDS. THE CROSS-CULTURAL GROUPS CONSISTED OF (1) INDO-EUROPEAN, (2) SPANISH-AMERICAN, (3) NEGRO, AND…