Measurement invariance (MI) is a property of measurement that is often implicitly assumed, but in many cases, not tested. When the assumption of MI is tested, it generally involves determining if the measurement holds longitudinally or cross-culturally. A growing literature shows that other groupings can, and should, be considered as well.…

The Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) is a non-verbal assessment designed to infer young children's levels of intellectual development and understanding via the collection of three human figure drawings (HFDs)--one each of a man, a woman and a self-portrait. This paper presents findings from a research project that applied the Rasch model for…

This study examines the power of cognitive and noncognitive variables to predict students' performance in algebra. We investigated students' prior year's assessment scores and demographic characteristics to predict eighth-grade algebra scores. Using California statewide assessment data, we explored predictive factors in three regression models.…

The goal of the present study is to examine the stability of time attitudes profiles across a one-year period as well as the association between time attitudes profiles and several variables. These variables include attitudes towards alcohol, context of alcohol use, consumption of a full drink, and subjective life expectancy. We assessed the…

Recent handbooks of giftedness or expertise propose a plethora of conceptions on the development of excellent performance but, to our knowledge, there are no comparative studies that provide empirical evidence of their validity to guide researchers and practitioners in their adoption of a particular conception. This study sought to close that gap…

Despite the claim by several researchers that variability in performance may complicate the identification of "at-risk" children, variability in the academic performance of young children remains an undervalued area of research. The goal of this study is to examine the predictive validity for future scores and the score stability of two…

We investigated the dimensionality of inference making in samples of 4- to 9-year-olds (Ns = 416-783) to determine if local and global coherence inferences could be distinguished. In addition, we examined the validity of our experimenter-developed inference measure by comparing with three additional measures of listening comprehension. Multitrait,…

Purpose: Graduate admission has become a critical process for quality assurance in tertiary education. Hitherto, most research has investigated the validity of admissions instruments. However, surprisingly little work has been conducted on the overall organization of admission, which often remains "informal, ad hoc, and lacking in…

This case study uses structural equation modeling to examine the predictive validity of the Read Aloud Profile-Together, a measure of the distinct behaviors of parents and children during shared book reading, in relation to preschool children's early reading competency. Using secondary data analysis, this case study includes 800 parent-child pairs…

This study investigated an adaptation of the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) measure of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills into a European context for the Norwegian language, which has a more transparent orthography than English. Second-order latent growth curve modeling was used to examine the longitudinal measurement invariance of…

Peers become increasingly influential in children's development during late childhood and early adolescence. A large body of research has documented children's proclivity for forming friendships with peers who share similar attributes to themselves, a phenomenon termed homophily. Researchers have used multiple procedures to operationalize…

Purpose: This paper aims to present the result of the pilot run of a research project which aims at evaluating the applicability of project-based action learning (PAL) to shop floor organizational learning (OL) component in a manufacturing company in Dongguan, China. How the PAL framework was introduced and implemented is described. The factors…

Traditional methods of assessing personality traits in medical school selection have been heavily criticised. To address this at the point of selection, "non-cognitive" tests were included in the UK Clinical Aptitude Test, the most widely-used aptitude test in UK medical education (UKCAT: http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/). We examined the…

The current studies explored (a) the extended external validity of social-goal-orientation framework; (b) the mediating role of social goals between classroom goal structures and students' engagement; and (c) whether changes in social goals can be explained by classroom goal structures and engagement. Study 1 was cross-sectional (N = 317), and…

We tested the longitudinal measurement invariance of the Teacher Network of Relationships Inventory (TNRI), a teacher-report measure of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), on a sample of 784 academically at-risk students across ages 6 to 15 years by comparing the model for each subsequent year with that of the previous year(s). The TNRI…