Measures of young children's social development are needed in the MultiTier System of Supports (MTSS) approach to early childhood. In 2004, we reported initial development of an observational measure of infants' and toddlers' social skills designed for early educators, the Early Social Indicator (ESI). Here, we report preliminary findings on the…

Background: Although generic skills development is a concern of educational policy and accreditation bodies, little is known about how engineering students perceive generic skills in relation to their motivation for learning such skills. The development of these skills is often done only through ad hoc approaches, without a well-structured…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a public university's design and implementation of an assessment approach that measures the change in undergraduate students' environmental stewardship reasoning and knowledge abilities over time. Design/methodology/approach: In support of a university's strategic emphasis on environmental…

Background: Correct identification of misconceptions is an important first step in order to gain an understanding of student learning. More recently, four-tier multiple choice tests have been found to be effective in assessing misconceptions. Purpose: The purposes of this study are (1) to develop and validate a four-tier misconception test to…

A multi-institution collaborative team of Australian chemistry education researchers, teaching a total of over 3000 first year chemistry students annually, has explored a tool for diagnosing students' prior conceptions as they enter tertiary chemistry courses. Five core topics were selected and clusters of diagnostic items were assembled linking…

Value has been identified as an essential aspect towards the quality in mathematics education at various levels of the system, institutional, curriculum, education management, and classroom interactions. However, few studies were focused on values, its development, measurement, and impact in education as compared to other affective aspects such as…

Objective: This study sought to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a tool designed to assess social work students' knowledge of and perceptions and attitudes toward human trafficking. To achieve this aim, the Perceptions, Knowledge, and Attitudes toward Human Trafficking Questionnaire (PKA-HTQ) was developed and its psychometric…

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has often been used to evaluate efficiency in the context of higher education institutions. Yet there are numerous alternative non-parametric measures of efficiency available. This paper compares efficiency scores obtained for institutions of higher education in England, 2013-2014, using three different methods: the…

In this research brief, a team of four researchers report their observations on the changing role of university housing complexes and their evolution into learning communities designed to foster students' learning, development, and overall well-being. The observation also revealed that the role of the resident assistant (RA) had evolved in a…

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 article provides a preliminary report on the construct validity and internal consistency of the "Community Scale." The "Community Scale" was developed to acknowledge the perceptions of community members and to promote a student-led "School Community Partnership Process" within the larger context of school climate…

Perceived shortage of principals, increased accountability demands, the changing role of principals, and the growing influence of the state over school administration have created a set of challenges for principal certification and licensure that have propelled a renewed need for analysis of certification and licensure processes. Recent calls to…

Scientific literacy has been measured by a variety of assessment tools in the past few decades. International surveys such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) emphasize the importance of scientific literacy. Scientific literacy is now regarded as a…

A partnership was created between psychologists and computer programmers to develop a computer-based assessment program. Psychometric concerns of accessibility, reliability, and validity were juxtaposed with core development concepts of usability and user-centric design. Phases of development were iterative, with evaluation phases alternating with…

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Arabic version of Sherouk's Critical Thinking Test. This test has four parts, each of which provides a story that is divided into an introduction and a scene; each story is then followed by a list of sensitive questions featuring two response options…