This study evaluated 3 models of personal competence in 180 students with mild and 143 students with moderate/severe mental disabilities. Results support the original Greenspan model that includes physical and emotional competence and practical, social, and conceptual intelligence, rather than the American Association on Mental Retardation model…

The Child Behavior Rating Form (CBRF) was adapted for use with children having mental retardation and was named the Nisonger CBRF. Independent factor analyses of parent and teacher ratings for 369 children produced 2 Social Competence subscales and 6 Problem Behavior subscales. Internal consistency was generally high and parent-teacher agreement…

The structure of temperament over the ages 3 to 7 years was investigated through factor analysis of maternal ratings of 1,366 children on the Childhood Temperament Questionnaire (CTQ). Found four strong factors (inflexibility, sociability, persistence, and rhythmicity) and two weak ones (activity-mood and threshold). Discusses the strengths and…

Undergraduates completed the new Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire designed to measure attitudes, skills, and behavioral intentions that might be affected by service learning participation. Factor analyses were used to define six scales. The scales' reliability and validity were found to be adequate. (EV)

Used an empirically based strategy to develop a measure of ethnic identity among American Indian adolescents, focusing on degree to which respondents identified with Indian culture and with White culture. Exploratory factor analysis examined the structure of ethnic identity, and resulting models were tested with confirmatory factor analysis.…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the construct validity and reliability of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) in 1,115 low-income Latina mothers. Exploratory factor analyses conducted in half of the sample supported a one-factor solution, which was subsequently confirmed in the remainder of the sample using confirmatory factor…

This study compared the effects of four electronic portfolio curricula on pre-service and beginning teachers' self-ratings of their professional development (n =207), using a 34 item electronic Portfolio Assessment Scale (ePAS). Three formative portfolios, A, C and D, had teacher development as a primary objective and used participants' narrative…

Pupils' responses in Grade 6 to a 40-item questionnaire originally constructed to reveal different school attitudes were re-analysed using recently developed techniques for latent variable analysis of two-level data. One aim was to test a model for investigation of classroom environment and another aim was to compare exploratory factor analysis…

Four studies on the development and validation of the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB-KASH) were conducted. Exploratory factor analysis of an initial item pool yielded 5 factors assessing internalized affirmativeness, civil rights attitudes, knowledge, religious conflict, and hate--indicating that…

The purpose of this study was to examine positive influences and barriers associated with entering a music teacher education doctoral program. Practicing music educators (N = 63), were asked to rate 48 positive-influence items and 54 barrier items. The highest-ranked positive influence was "Training young teachers to provide worthwhile…

This paper presents an overall approach, statistical techniques, and a public-use database that can be used for understanding state welfare policies and measuring their relationship with key outcomes of interest, all while learning helpful statistical techniques. We use descriptive statistics and correlations to describe state policies. We find…

This study examines the construct validity of the Mathematical Patterns Test using data from 848 Cypriot primary school students. Descriptive analyses across 5 age groups suggested a developmental structure of individual tasks and subdomains consistent with the design of the test. Acceptable fit was obtained using confirmatory factor analysis…

The primary purpose of this study was to identify the perceived barriers to employment incarcerated youth felt they faced. Due to the uniqueness of this population, a measure tool entitled "My Future Employment Outlook" was designed to assess their particular perceptions. Three hundred seventeen juveniles in a southwestern correctional…

To address the ability of the Salter Environment Type Assessment (SETA) to measure different kinds of campus environments, data from three studies of the SETA with the Work Environment Scale, Group Environment Scale, and University Residence Environment Scale were reexamined (n = 534). Relationship dimension scales were very consistent with…

This study compares the ability of the multiple indicators, multiple causes (MIMIC) confirmatory factor analysis model to correctly identify cases of differential item functioning (DIF) with more established methods. Although the MIMIC model might have application in identifying DIF for multiple grouping variables, there has been little…