Solution-focused (SF) approaches are widely used in schools. The present study examined the effects of a central SF technique--"scaling"--on female secondary students' improvement expectancy (IE) and commitment to improvement (CTI). Popular follow-up questions were also tested. In Experiment 1, 120 students were randomly assigned to a…

In educational research, scales are often presented as the ontological reality of a study. This study problematises this starting point and suggests approaching scales as experienced and epistemically used. Thus, this study asks how international students studying at Finnish universities during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic negotiated…

Educational large-scale assessments (LSAs) often provide plausible values for the administered competence tests to facilitate the estimation of population effects. This requires the specification of a background model that is appropriate for the specific research question. Because the "German National Educational Panel Study" (NEPS) is…

A voluminous empirical literature has examined scale economies in public organisations, particularly in local government. By contrast, little effort has been directed at the empirical investigation of economies of scale in higher education administration, including in Australian universities. To address this gap in the empirical literature, this…

The Eco-Generativity Scale (EGS) is a recently developed 28-item scale derived from a 4-factor higher-order model (ecological generativity, social generativity, environmental identity, and agency/pathways). The aim of this study was to develop a short-scale version of the EGS to facilitate its use with university students (N = 779) who will…

Purpose: We studied innovation processes in agriculture and nutrition to discuss a scaling approach that encompasses the technical, institutional, and behavioral dimensions of change. Approach: To understand dynamics across these dimensions, we analyzed farmers' innovation processes through two analytical lenses: farmer-centered and structural.…

Purpose: The study was aimed at measuring farmers' helpline services quality in India using a standardized multi-factor scale (HELPQUAL) developed as part of this study. Design/methodology/approach: The present study is based on 360 farmers' and 45 experts' responses gathered using telephonic interviews and mailed questionnaires during the year…

Purpose: The present study aimed to scale the political tactics used by teachers and principals based on rank-order judgments. Research Methods: This study was a descriptive study in which the political tactics used by school principals and teachers were scaled from the most to the least frequently used ones based on rank-order judgments. The…

The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test--Second Edition (KBIT-2) is designed to measure verbal and nonverbal abilities in a wide range of individuals from 4 years 0 months to 90 years 11 months of age. This study examines both the advantages of using Mokken Scale Analysis (MSA) in intelligence tests and the hierarchical order of the items in the…

One of the primary goals of international large-scale assessments in education is the comparison of country means in student achievement. This article introduces a framework for discussing differential item functioning (DIF) for such mean comparisons. We compare three different linking methods: concurrent scaling based on full invariance,…

Language skills are central to refugee integration and the availability of language courses could thus be a limiting factor. We explore how the most important provider of language courses in Germany, adult education centers (VHS), adapted their course supply to the refugee wave of 2015/2016. Our results highlight two channels through which the…

When analyzing large-scale assessments (LSAs) that use complex sampling designs, it is important to account for probability sampling using weights. However, the use of these weights in multilevel models has been widely debated, particularly regarding their application at different levels of the model. Yet, no consensus has been reached on the best…

China, classified as a middle-income country by the World Bank, faces a scarcity of resources in providing autism interventions, despite a comparable autism prevalence in the Western world. Most autism interventions in China are imported from high-income countries, highlighting the need to examine whether the focus of the interventions from mixed…

This article adopts a process evaluation approach to identify the challenges and opportunities in scaled implementation of early childhood education (ECE) in Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab. It reports findings from mixed methods, including surveys administered to head teachers, ECE teachers, and parents across 386 schools, and focus…

Purpose: The Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTD Scale) is a self-rating questionnaire investigating physical symptoms in the larynx associated with vocal pathology. The aim of this work was to investigate the reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the first German version and to provide normative data with thresholds for pathology…