Depression is a latent characteristic that is measured through self-reported or clinician-mediated instruments such as scales and inventories. The precision of depression estimates largely depends on the validity of the items used and on the truthfulness of people responding to these items. The existing methodology in instrumentation based on a…

The Neurodevelopmental Ecological Screening Tool (NEST) is a new instrument to screen children for developmental challenges. This article describes the validation of the NEST neurodevelopmental domain. Data were collected from a nationwide purposely restricted sample of caregivers of children aged 3-5 years (n = 231) living in poverty and…

Background: Technically sound measures are necessary for accurately identifying youth at risk for depression, but many studies rely on classical test theory metrics or adult samples to evaluate measures. This study examined the use of the PHQ-8, a common and freely available pediatric depression screener, in an adolescent sample using item…

This technical report documents the processes and procedures employed by NWEA® to build and support the English MAP® Reading Fluency™ assessments administered during the 2020-2021 school year. It is written for measurement professionals and administrators to help evaluate the quality of MAP Reading Fluency. The seven sections of this report: (1)…

This study aimed to develop an illustration-based developmental motor screening questionnaire (DMSQi) for young children and examined its psychometric properties. 463 young children and their caregivers were collected and received the DMSQi assessment. DMSQi is made up of two domains. The gross motor (GM) domain includes body coordination and…

Although the Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5's 12-item "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale (formerly called Pervasive Developmental Problems scale) has been used in several studies as an autism spectrum disorder screener, the base rate and stability of its items and its measurement model…

The State of Washington requires school districts to file court petitions on students with excessive unexcused absences. The "Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students" (WARNS), a self-report screening instrument developed for use by high school and juvenile court personnel in such situations, purports to measure six facets of…

Background: Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) refugees and immigrants in the United States (U.S.) face barriers to accessing health care, and are more likely to have worse health outcomes as it relates to chronic disease. Better understanding health literacy for this population can identify gaps in knowledge, facilitate health…

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Early Numeracy Screener. The Early Numeracy Screener is a teacher-administered, paper-and-pencil test measuring counting skills, numerical relational skills, and basic arithmetic skills. Three hundred and sixty-six first graders took the Early Numeracy Screener at the beginning of the…

The present study examined the measurement properties of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS), a universal screening instrument which identifies students presenting with emotional and behavioral problems. The primary research questions sought to examine the degree to which the EBS item responses fit the Rasch model through evaluating fit of…

Home literacy activities influence children's emergent literacy progress and readiness for reading instruction. To help parents fulfill this opportunity, we developed a new Emergent Literacy Screener (ELS) and conducted 2 studies of its psychometric properties with independent prekindergarten samples. For Study 1 (n = 812, M[subscript age] = 54.4…

This study investigated the effect of item position on descriptive statistics, psychometric information, and factor structure of the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist 17-item social-emotional screening instrument (PSC-17). The goal was to determine whether item position, either grouped by factor or mixed across constructs, produced similar results.…

The factor structure of the Teacher-Child Rating Scale (T-CRS 2.1) was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A cross-sectional study was carried out on 68,497 children in prekindergarten through Grade 10. Item reduction was carried out based on modification indices, standardized residual covariance, and standardized factor loadings. A…

Borrowing from a clinical psychology observational methodology, thin-slice observations were used to assess autism characteristics in toddlers. Thin-slices are short observations taken from a longer behavior stream which are assigned ratings by multiple raters using a 5-point scale. The raters' observations are averaged together to assign a…

The "Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test-Second Edition" (ADHDT-2) is published through Pro-Ed in Austin, Texas. It was formally published in 2014, following critical revisions of the ADHDT, the reportedly popular initial version of this test that was published in 1995. The ADHDT-2 purports to act as a screener for individuals…