This article suggests possible applications of experimental analyses using analogues to empirically verify results of functional assessments in classrooms for students with autism and related disabilities. Analogue assessments involve creating conditions in which antecedents and consequences are held constant and specific variables suspected to…

Asks several teachers what they have lost from their teaching or their classroom since the growth in mandated, standardized testing. Considers the ill effects of mandated testing, and names some educational essentials at risk of being lost while testing rules. Discusses what is lost in high-stakes multiple-choice testing of new teachers. (SG)

The article presents a psychometric description of 11 statements related to use of physical violence. The items were tested in a normal sample (N=1700, age: 15-16) from urban and rural areas in Western Norway. The internal reliability was @a=0.86, and the factor analysis resulted in two factors. Boys had higher mean scores than girls.…

Background: Phonological awareness tests are known to be amongst the best predictors of literacy; however their predictive validity alongside current school screening practice (baseline assessment, pupil background data) and to National Curricular outcome measures is unknown. Aim: We explored the validity of phonological awareness and orthographic…

Six curriculum-based measures of math performance were developed for use with 4-year old preschool children. Measures included counting objects, selecting numbers, naming numbers, selecting shapes, counting, and visual discrimination. Technical properties of probe scores were assessed in two rural public preschool programs. Alternate forms,…

Understanding help seeking intentions and behaviour is fundamental to the identification of factors that can be modified to increase engagement in counselling. Despite considerable research on these variables, integrating prior research has been impeded by a lack of consistent and psychometrically sound help-seeking measures. The General…

The reliability and, to a lesser extent, the validity of the newly created Number Sense Test was evaluated with a group of 40 3- to 5-year-old children attending Head Start. Six number sense skills (e.g., counting, number identification, addition-subtraction) and children's feelings about school were assessed both before and after instruction…

StrengthsQuest is a student program that focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses. It is intended to lead students to discover their natural talents and gain unique and valuable insights into how to develop such talents into strengths--strengths that equip them to succeed and to make important decisions that enable them to balance the demands…

The Gambling Timeline Followback (G-TLFB), a measure of gambling behavior that uses the timeline followback methodology, was psychometrically evaluated with samples of frequent-gambling young adults. Seven dimensions of gambling behavior were assessed: type, frequency, duration, intent, risk, win-loss, and consumption of alcohol while gambling.…

Dementia because of Alzheimer's disease (AD) commonly affects older adults with Down's syndrome (DS). Methods are needed, with established concurrent and predictive validity, to facilitate the diagnostic assessment of dementia, when it is complicated by pre-existing intellectual disabilities (ID). We report on the reliability and validity of a…

This article discusses the main purposes of reading comprehension assessment and identifies the key features of good assessment. The article also identifies pitfalls that clinicians and educators should avoid to conduct valid assessments of reading comprehension, such as the degree to which the measure taps the constructive and integrative…

The first portion of this article describes the development and validation of a classroom observation measure. The goal of the measure was to assess the quality of reading instruction provided to first-grade English learners. We report the internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, the development of empirically derived subscales,…

A test designed with built-in modifications and covering the same grade-level mathematics content provided more precise measurement of mathematics achievement for lower performing students with disabilities. Fourth-grade students with disabilities took a test based on modified state curricular standards for their mandated statewide mathematics…

This study determined psychometric properties of the Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale (PEDS) with an ethnically diverse sample of 383 children 2 to 7 years of age exposed to interpersonal violence and participating in a community-based intervention. Means and alpha coefficients for the total scale and 3 subscales fell within previously reported…

The two major continuing medical education (CME) credit systems for allopathic physicians in the United States are administered by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). This article explores the history of AMA and AAFP CME credit and its value to physicians and the patients they serve.…