Validity evidence based on content is critical for making inferences about examinees' responses to test items. Traditionally, content validity has been established by specifying the content domain of an instrument, through reviews by subject-matter experts, through alignment studies, or by reporting measures of internal consistency, such as…

The past three decades have witnessed a boost of interest in vocabulary learning in EFL contexts since Meara (1980) identified it as 'a neglected aspect of language learning' (p. 221). A mushrooming amount of literature has emerged in various aspects of vocabulary and its acquisition (e.g., Carter, 1998; Coady & Huckin, 1997; Manyak, 2010;…

Background: Research findings suggest that direct support staff use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) inconsistently. Various staff-related factors have been identified, and researchers agree that these factors somehow interrelate. Therefore, we approached AAC use as a behavioural process and examined the synergy between…

The aim of this study is to adapt the Survey of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Early Childhood Mathematics, developed by Smith (1998), to Turkish. The need for a scale investigating the pedagogical content knowledge of teachers in the field of early childhood education ensures the relevance of the current study. After the translation stage of…

The learning in the physics laboratory is related to several non-cognitive variables such as anxiety which has a significant role in teaching and learning process. Therefore, university students may have different thoughts and anxiety levels towards physics laboratory class. The aim of this research was to develop a measurement tool assessing the…

Objectives: The aim of this pilot study was to explore psychometric properties of two versions of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory in a Swedish social service sample. Method: Social workers employed at 22 Swedish child protections agencies participated in the data collection. Both classic test theory approaches and…

A significant number of young children exhibit challenging behaviors in preschool settings. A tiered framework of intervention has documented effectiveness in elementary and secondary schools, and recently has been extended to preschool settings. Although there is emerging research to support the effectiveness of Tier 1 (universal) and Tier 3…

N signifies the number of data samples in a study. Traditional research values numerous data samples as this reduces the variability created by extremes. Alternatively, arts-based research privileges the outlier, the N of 1. Oftentimes, what is unique and outside the norm is the focus. There are three approaches to the N of 1 in arts-based…

Ratings given to the same item response may have a stronger correlation than those given to different item responses, especially when raters interact with one another before giving ratings. The rater bundle model was developed to account for such local dependence by forming multiple ratings given to an item response as a bundle and assigning…

In a conversation, adults expect speakers to be consistent in their use of a particular expression. We examine whether four-year-olds expect speakers to use consistent referential descriptions and whether these expectations are partner-specific. Using an eye-tracking paradigm, we presented four-year-olds with arrays of objects on a screen. During…

Learners often have difficulties comprehending multiple texts about controversial scientific issues. In particular, learners with strong prior beliefs tend to construct a one-sided mental representation that is biased towards belief-consistent information (text-belief consistency effect). In the present study we examined the effectiveness of…

This study presents a new approach for transforming the latent representation derived from a Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) space into one where dimensions have nonlatent meanings. These meanings are based on lexical descriptors, which are selected by the LSA user. The authors present three analyses that provide examples of the utility of this…

My study focused on developing an instrument to resolve a problem of practice in my organization: How to accurately match individuals' preferences with projects. Other project leaders and I had already identified four 'types' of project preferences. My study used those constructs and their defining characteristics to develop a new instrument: The…

In Gargani and Strong (2014), we describe The Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness (RATE), a new teacher evaluation instrument. Our account of the validation research associated with RATE inspired a review by Good and Lavigne (2015). Here, we reply to the main points of their review. We elaborate on the validity, reliability, theoretical…

Poor reciprocity is a defining feature of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the current study, we examined the reliability and validity of the Interactive Drawing Test (IDT), a new instrument to assess reciprocal behavior. The IDT was administered to children and adolescents with ASD (n = 131) and to a typically developing group (n = 62). The…