This study explores the use of multiple measures to enhance the validity and reliability of inferences about school and district effectiveness. Using data from the state of Ohio, a framework for combining measures is applied to examine the individual and collective impact of multiple measures on both the federal AYP designations and state ratings.…

Human nature is a very complex phenomenon. In physical therapy this complexity is enhanced by the need to understand the intersection between the art and science of human behavior and patient care. A paradigm is a set of basic beliefs that represent a worldview, defines the nature of the world and the individual's place in it, and helps to…

Five hundred thirty-eight elementary school students participated in a study designed to examine the technical characteristics of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) for the assessment of writing. In addition, the study investigated rating-based measures of writing using the Six Trait model, an assessment instrument and writing program in use in many…

A 25-item self-report instrument was constructed to measure intrinsic motivation for academic work in the first-year student population. The instrument was based on a taxonomy of four types of intrinsic motivators: challenge, control, curiosity, and career outlook. The aim of this study was to provide reliability and validity evidence for the…

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop a reliable and valid family satisfaction instrument for use in Ohio's nursing homes. Design and Methods: Investigators worked with an advisory council to develop the survey. Purposive sampling techniques were largely used to select 12 small, medium, and large for-profit and proprietary facilities…

Finding, accessing, and determining the credibility of information are skills most people would deem necessary for the college educated person, if not the average citizen, to possess today. At the same time, educators, as well as constituents of educational institutions are asking for better and more sophisticated assessment instruments of…

This article describes the adaptation and validation of the Constructivist OnLine Learning Environment Survey (COLLES) for use in the transnational higher education context. As higher education becomes a more global phenomenon, "borderless" education, either online or by distance education, is becoming a reality and there is a need for…

With increasing national and international support for the development of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) curricula in American medical schools, it is essential to measure what learners know and believe about CAM in order to assess outcomes of new teaching efforts. This paper describes the development and initial results of a survey…

Objective: This study reports on the development and test of a multidimensional measure of client engagement in child welfare services. Method: Five dimensions of engagement were identified and were based on a literature review and data from interviews with child welfare workers and clients. A pool of items generated to reflect these five…

A latent variable modeling approach to reliability and measurement invariance evaluation for multiple-component measuring instruments is outlined. An initial discussion deals with the limitations of coefficient alpha, a frequently used index of composite reliability. A widely and readily applicable structural modeling framework is next described…

In this article, the author takes a critical look at current assessment practices in social studies education, especially those at the state level. He defines some key assessment terms, then considers the major issues of statewide assessment, focusing on the reliability and validity of the means by which government agencies across the United…

In order to assess whether students fully grasped the six teaching standards in the "Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics" (NCTM, 1991), the researcher had each student submit peer evaluations of the team lessons that were taught in a Methods and Materials of Teaching Mathematics in the Middle Grades class during the Fall semester of…

This project examined some of the common constraints on reliable cognitive assessment for children over time. Repeated measures design (n = 133) was with younger (5 & 6 year old, n = 64) and older (7 & 8 year old, n = 69) children. Results showed that children's self-concepts moderated the test-retest reliability over extended intervals…

This study canvasses reliability of students' self and peer evaluation, a method of assessment of university students that has recently gained renewed pedagogical interest and broad recognition. Two experiments, imbedded in classroom curriculum, examined the effects of the instrument of evaluation (with criteria vs. no criteria for evaluation…

We examined 48-hour test-retest reliability of the arrest and incarceration questions on the Risk Behavior Assessment (RBA; National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1993). Participants were 229 street-drug users recruited in 11 cities throughout the United States. Results revealed that lifetime arrest and incarceration items demonstrated good to…