Social isolation of school children is increased when teachers feel unable to respond to children's report of witnessing or experiencing aggression at school. Teachers can find it difficult to respond adequately to children who report aggression when the aggression is deliberately hidden from the teacher by the perpetrator. This study aimed to…

Although ABET has outlined educational outcomes to help prepare students with the necessary competencies to succeed in professional engineering practice, it is unclear how confident students are in their professional engineering skills. "Competency" refers to the "generic, integrated and internalized capability to deliver…

This study examined the convergent validity of the "Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version" (SIS-A; Thompson et al., 2015a) and "Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version" (SIS-C; Thompson et al., 2016a). Data from SISOnline (n = 129,864) for the SIS-A and from the SIS-C standardization sample (n = 4,015) were used for…

Although there has been substantial work on argument-based approaches to validation as well as standard-setting methodologies, it might not always be clear how standard setting fits into argument-based validity. The purpose of this article is to address this lack in the literature, with a specific focus on topics related to argument-based…

Justification of testing practice involves moving from one state of knowledge about the test to another. Theories of test validity can (a) focus on the beginning of the process, (b) focus on the end, or (c) encompass the entire process. Analyses of four case studies test and illustrate three claims: (a) restrictions on validity entail a supplement…

Reflective supervision is increasingly mandated in evidence-based infant and early childhood programs and is, therefore, experiencing rapid expansion across the United States. The growing interest in reflective supervision has led to new questions about how to train, support, and gauge the competency of supervisors who are supporting and educating…

Six cardinal leadership virtues based on Aristotelian and Confucian typology were advanced through this study by developing a measurement instrument and examining its predictive validity by studying the causal association with perceived leader happiness. Based on a sample of 183 school principals engaged in various types of schools, the results of…

This study examined the convergent validity of the "Supports Intensity Scale-Adult Version" (SIS-A; Thompson et al., 2015a) and "Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version" (SIS-C; Thompson et al., 2016a). Data from SISOnline (n = 129,864) for the SIS-A and from the SIS-C standardization sample (n = 4,015) were used for…

The elicited imitation task (EIT), in which language learners listen to a series of spoken sentences and repeat each one verbatim, is a commonly used measure of language proficiency in second language acquisition research. The "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test includes an EIT as a holistic measure of speaking proficiency, referred to as the…

This report describes the development of efficient second language (L2) writing assessment tasks designed specifically for low-proficiency learners of English to be included in the "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test. Based on the can-do descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for the A1 through B1 levels of…

The present study investigated the applicability of word reading, word segmentation, and text reading as diagnostic tools to assess comprehension, detect struggling readers, and inform instruction for low-level Chinese as second language (L2) learners (n = 70). The results showed that the three instruments measured different dimensions of word…

We examine the effects of computer-based versus paper-based assessment of critical thinking skills, adapted from English (in the U.S.) to Chinese. Using data collected based on a random assignment between the two modes in multiple Chinese colleges, we investigate mode effects from multiple perspectives: mean scores, measurement precision, item…

In this practice brief, we explore feedback from a group of eighth and ninth grade students, families, and educators on what has been challenging, what has been missing, and what is needed during the transition from middle to high school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. We also discuss the process for gathering stakeholder…

Background: A long-standing premise in test design is that contextualizing test items makes them concrete, less demanding, and more conducive to determining whether students can apply or transfer their knowledge. Purpose: We assert that despite decades of study and experience, much remains to be learned about how to construct effective and fair…

Abilities in scientific thinking and reasoning have been emphasized as core areas of initiatives, such as the Next Generation Science Standards or the College Board Standards for College Success in Science, which focus on the skills the future will demand of today's students. Although there is rich literature on studies of how these abilities…