There has been a dramatic worldwide increase in reported cases of autism over the past decade. Autism is much more prevalent than previously thought, especially when viewed as a spectrum of disorders (autism spectrum disorders; ASD). School-based professionals are now more likely to be asked to participate in the screening and identification of…

The purpose of this study was to preliminarily examine family involvement with the primary caregivers of a specific population of New Zealand primary school students through a pilot validation of a New Zealand version of the Family Involvement Questionnaire, Elementary Version (FIQ-E; Manz, Fantuzzo, & Power, 2004). Participants were 285…

When taking a standardized test, one wants it to be fair and objective. Catherine McClellan makes sure that it is. Catherine is a psychometrician. Like many in this occupation, she designs, scores, and analyzes data from exams. Psychometrics is the science of measuring psychological attributes, such as intelligence or understanding. Tests are one…

The current concept and measures of self-efficacy for depression in adolescents do not consider developmental and cultural aspects essential to understand and assess this construct in Latino youth. We examined the factor structure of the "Escala de Autoeficacia para la Depresion en Adolescentes" (EADA), a Spanish instrument designed to…

Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) commendably attempt to put descriptive theory at the center of pedagogy, assessment, and curriculum. The thrust of their article is that only through theories of learning will student progression be properly understood. Casting a critical eye over the faddish distinction between "formative" and "summative"…

We examined articles in the "Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis" in which results of functional analyses indicated that problem behavior was maintained by multiple sources of reinforcement. Data for 88 (16.9%) of 521 subjects reported in 168 studies met the criteria for multiple control. Data for 11 subjects (2.1%) involved a single response…

This commentary examines the role of the unit from the perspective of the definition of measurement in physics as the ratio of two magnitudes, one of which is defined as the unit; it is an important and timely contribution to measurement in the social sciences. There are many different points that could be commented upon, but the author will…

This paper describes the development of a Quality of Care and Support (QOCS) scale for use with adult persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. In the pilot phase of the study, 12 centers from around the world carried out focus groups with people with physical and disabilities, their carers, and with professionals in order to identify…

The present study evaluated the 23-item Screening Tool for Feeding Problems (STEP; Matson & Kuhn, 2001) with a sample of children referred to a hospital-based feeding clinic to examine the scale's psychometric characteristics and then demonstrate how a children's revision of the STEP, the STEP-CHILD is associated with child and parent variables.…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is an alternative to traditional assessment techniques. Technical work has begun to identify CBM writing indices that are psychometrically sound for monitoring older students' writing proficiency. This study examined the predictive validity of CBM writing indices in a sample of 447 eighth-grade students.…

The applicability of the Age and Stages Questionnaires: Social Emotional (ASQ-SE; J. Squires, D. Bricker & E. Twombly, 2003) for Turkish children was examined. A total of 608 mothers completed the ASQ-SE's. Overall sensitivity and overall specificity were 83.7% and 89.9%, respectively. Test-retest reliability, assessed by classifying children…

The current study evaluated the psychometric evidence of Turkish form of the Academic Motivation Scale. The scale was based on the tenets of self-determination theory. It was designed to assess an individual's academic motivation if intrinsically or extrinsically driven with 28 questions. University form of the scale was translated into Turkish…

Science process skills are claimed to enable an individual to improve their own life visions and give a scientific view/literacy as a standard of their understanding about the nature of science. The main purpose of this study was to develop a test for measuring a valid, reliable and practical test for Science Process Skills (SPS) in secondary…

In accordance with federal reporting requirements mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) must report annually on 20 performance indicators related to the provision of special education services to children…

Ecological theorists have suggested that "disturbance" may result from an interaction between a child's behavior and reactions to that behavior within ecosystems such as schools. In this context, behavior is viewed as "disturbing" rather than "disturbed" and equal emphasis is given to the child and to individuals with whom the child interacts when…