This article investigates justice judgments concerning grading. In two studies with secondary students (N[subscript 1]=350 academic-track students; N[subscript 2]=225 intermediate [n=81] and academic-track students [n=144]) attending the 7th to the 12th grade level, participants were presented with vignettes describing three different grading…

High-quality measurement is a necessary requirement to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of programs that use strength-based principles and strategies. Using independent cross-validation samples, we report two studies that explored the construct validity of the BERS-2 Youth Report, a popular measure designed to assess youth strengths, whose…

Purpose: To assess and compare youth satisfaction with two delivery approaches to a HIV/STD risk reduction intervention targeting adolescents: an on-site, face-to-face (FTF) approach versus a long distance interactive televised (DIT) approach. Methods: A convenience sample of 571 rural adolescents ages 12-16 years who participated in an HIV/STD…

This study sought to identify important antecedents of principals' self-efficacy (PSE) beliefs among 558 principals in Virginia. Analysis of variance demonstrated that the school context variables of school level, school setting, and the proportion of low-income students had no significant relationship to PSE. Multiple regression revealed that, by…

This article reports the development and initial validation of scores obtained from the Adolescent Concerns Measure (ACM), a scale which assesses concerns of Asian adolescent students. In Study 1, findings from exploratory factor analysis using 619 adolescents suggested a 24-item scale with four correlated factors--Family Concerns (9 items), Peer…

Confirmatory factor analyses based on the scoring derived from 5 prior studies of the Parenting Scale were conducted using a representatively recruited sample of 453 couples parenting 3-to 7-year-old children. Comparative analyses favored the Reitman et al. (2001) 2-factor scoring system as well as a 3-factor solution, including Lax, Overreactive,…

A delay in the end of the adolescent period, and hence the onset of common adult roles, is a trend in most of today's Western industrialized societies. Related to this fact, in recent years emerging adulthood has been proposed as a distinct developmental period between adolescence and young adulthood. Typical normative markers of adulthood are…

This study examined the heterogeneity within a sample of 140 urban second and third graders identified as at-risk for reading failure due to inefficient word and/or nonword reading. Cluster analyses were conducted using standardized factor scores from a four-factor structural equation model characterizing reading performance in this sample. These…

This paper presents findings of a study that developed, measured, and tested the Organizational/Supervisory (O/S) Model of Instructional Supervision. The six dimensions of the Organizational Supervisory Climate Inventory (OSCI)--organizational structure, professional autonomy, collaborative sharing, district supervisory climate, reflection, and…

A mental model is a knowledge structure composed of concepts and the relations between them. Mental models are distinct from declarative and procedural knowledge--they go beyond semantic relationships and skills acquisition and contain varied intellectual skills and knowledge. This study describes an initial investigation into the construct…

The first study described in this paper estimates the reliability of the four subscale versions of the 40-item Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward learning about and using computers. It provides detailed information about the factor patterns of CAS subscales and evidence of the differential validity of…

A study investigated whether some level of writing apprehension or some expressed attitude toward writing might result in better essay scores. Subjects, 255 freshmen composition students at two campuses of the California State University system, were administered instruments designed to comparatively measure the quality of students' writing, gauge…

This paper presents abstracts of 80 individual papers and panel discussions that deal with journalism, popular culture, mass media, "science" in public discourse, the social construction of communication technologies, factorial analysis as a research tool, and other issues in communication. Almost all of the abstracts in the paper are…

This paper presents a methodology for developing a framework that can help decision makers distinguish intensity of needs and regional funding differences within a state. A cluster analysis was used to distinguish need in Georgia's 159 counties. Four clusters that identified the distribution of goods or services to those in need were identified:…

This report documents the construct validity and reliability of the Professional Development Inventory (PDI), an assessment center sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). The assessment center provides a means for assessing participants in situations simulating those confronted by principals on the job. The…