Paper screening in the pre-selection process of hiring teachers has been the focus in an ongoing series of similar studies starting with Allison in 1981. There have been many independent variables, including, but not limited to, age, gender, ethnic background, years of experience, type of experience, and grade point average, introduced into the…

Although young children are major audiences of science museums, limited evidence exists documenting changes in children's knowledge in these settings due in part to the limited number of valid and reliable assessment tools available for use with this population. The purposes of this study were to develop and validate a concept mapping assessment…

This study was to determine reliability and validity for a two-tiered, multiple- choice instrument designed to identify alternative conceptions in earth science. Additionally, this study sought to identify alternative conceptions in earth science held by preservice teachers, to investigate relationships between self-reported confidence scores and…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the School-Based Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale (SB-SES). Two hundred sixty-five (N = 265) licensed mental health professionals participated in this study. Fifty-eight percent of the participants reported experience working as a school-based counselor with the remaining 42% reporting no…

Data from instruments which are technically adequate and which inform instruction are not only considered best practice, but are legally mandated by laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and No Child Left Behind. The Phonics Diagnostic Inventory (PDI) was designed to assess students' proficiency with specific…

This study examined conceptions of the right to literacy in children, adolescents, and young adults living in rural Zulu villages in the mountains of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, as one instantiation of the development of conceptions of human rights in a developing world setting. Of human rights, literacy was chosen because of its familiarity to…

This qualitative study examined the development of the partnership between the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The research focused on archival documents from the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois Archives. The archival research focused on documents during the…

The development and psychometric characteristics of the Minnesota Visual Autism Symptom Scale (MN-VASS) was described. The relationship between the literature surrounding autism symptoms, the diagnostic criteria for autism, and the resulting content of subscales was presented. Item analyses were conducted using item total correlations. All of the…

There is a lack of valid and reliable low cost observational instruments to measure moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in school physical education (PE). The participants in this study were third to tenth grade boys and girls from a south Texas school district. The SAM (Simple Activity Measurement) activity levels were compared with…

I believe that the concept of the absurd, as described in philosophy and reflected in works of drama and literature, provides an unusual and helpful perspective from which to view the emerging field of digital media. In my opinion, absurd principles can help us understand the mixed feelings we may have when engaging with digital media: joy and…

The purpose of this study is to describe the difference in the academic achievement of urban Hispanic high school students based on the small learning community theme. The study used a quantitative method of ex post facto research to examine how the academic achievement of Hispanic high school students differs across the themes of small…

The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge to the existing body of psychological research in the area of emotional responses, particularly anxiety, and learning environments. It also contributes to other areas of the literature, including education and technology. Hove and Corcoran (2008) recommended investigating students' emotional…

Since the 1990s, the federal government required public state universities in Mexico to recruit full time faculty members with doctoral degrees and research productivity to increase the academic competitiveness of higher education. After two decades of the implementation of federal mandates, public state universities have not improved their…

This measurement study examined the construct validity of the retell component of the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (Texas Education Agency, University of Houston, & The University of Texas System, 2008a) within a confirmatory factor analysis framework. The role of retell, provided after a one-minute oral reading fluency measure, was…

Beginning teachers leave the profession at an alarming rate. Role expansion and role intensification have become more predominate in the profession as a result of numerous reform and accountability movements, including "No Child Left Behind". Research suggests that social supports and engagement in multiple roles can buffer the effects of stress…