xv, 170 p. A print copy of this title is available from the UO Libraries, under the call number: KNIGHT LB1131 .B14 2007 / Many research studies in early childhood assessment have addressed the importance of quality assessment services. Such services involve gathering information on children through direct observation of functional skills in natural settings, which requires considerable time and effort. Due to the unavailability of sufficient resources for the quality assessment services, a new approach needs to be undertaken. Current research has suggested that parent-completed screening utilizing parental knowledge about their child is valid and reliable in appraising current and observable behaviors (Bodnarchuk & Eaton, 2004; O'Neill, 2007). There has been, however, little investigation on in-depth standardized assessments completed by parents for young children aged 18 to 36 months. This study examined validity and reliability of in-depth parental report on child development with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire Inventory for Toddlers (ASQ-IT) for children aged 18-36 moths old. Fifty child-caregiver dyads were divided into two groups, non-risk and risk based on environmental factors including maternal age at the child's birth, family income, and maternal education. In examining psychometric information of the parent-completed measure, acceptable outcomes were found. Accuracy was supported by two examinations for concurrent validity; (1) the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition (BDI-2) administered by professionals and the ASQ-IT completed by parents (r = .63 -.83,p < .01), and (2) the same two measures completed by professionals (r = .72 -.92,p < .01). Findings of both reliability studies, test-retest reliability with the ASQ-IT completed by parents, and inter-observer reliability between parents and professionals, suggested substantial consistency, p = .79 -.93 and p = .65 -.88 respectively. In differential item functioning (DIF) (i.e., 3% of DIF items) and known-group validity analyses (p < .0005 at 36 months), the ability of the ASQ-IT to detect changes in the children's development was confirmed. Results from the social validity examining parent perception of the ASQIT completion identified efficiency of the ASQ-IT (e.g., reasonable time to complete) as well as many benefits. / Adviser: Jane K. Squires

Learning style refers to the cognitive, physiological, emotional, environmental, sociological, and perceptual manner in which people learn. In order to provide students with an optimal learning environment, it is necessary to match instruction with students' learning style. To do this, student learning style must be assessed by a learning style instrument. Of the learning style instruments that are currently available, most do not have much evidence of reliability and validity. Additionally, evidence that does exist is weak. Therefore, more psychometric data are needed regarding these instruments. This study provided psychometric evidence for six popular learning styles instruments, including the Learning Style Inventory, the Productivity Environmental Preferences Survey, the Learning Styles Profile, the Grasha-Riechmann's Student Learning Style Scale, the Edmonds Learning Style Identification Exercise, and the Group Embedded Figures Test. Test-retest reliability was found to be good for the Group Embedded Figures Test and moderate for all other instruments. Internal structure validity of the instruments was good, indicating that the instruments do measure unique learning style constructs. However, convergent and discriminant validity evidence indicates that the instruments either do not measure the same constructs, or measure the learning style constructs in different ways.

The adaptation of existing psychometric data data-collection instruments are is often utilized utilised in cross-cultural research as an alternative to the development of a new data data-collection instrument for a particular population, as the latter may not always be a viable option. However, given the relative novelty of this practice, several authors call for further research in this practicefield. The research assistants’ subjective experience in the administration of culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments in a South African context was identified as a silence gap in the body of literature under review. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experience of research assistants during the administration of culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments in order to broadly inform the practice of psychometric data data-collection instrument adaptation and cross-cultural assessment broadly. This study adhered to the meta-theoretical paradigm of Constructivism, while the methodological paradigm of qualitative research was adopted. Furthermore, a qualitative content analysis research design was employed, with document analysis of two focus focus-group discussions as a data data-collection strategy. The data was analysed by means of a theme analysis of the datea. The study found that the research assistants of the Kgolo Mmogo project experienced difficulty with regard to the language and comprehension of certain items of the culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments. Their experiences also indicated the presence of culturally inappropriate questions, the presence of contradicting responses during the administration of the instruments, as well as the phenomenon of participants providing what they perceived to be the ‘correct’ response. Furthermore, the findings from this study suggested that the research assistants experienced the culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instrument to have an informative and educational value. It seemed to informthat mothers felt informed about their children’s development, while it also served as a tool for HIV/AIDS education. Finally, the findings of this study suggested that the research assistants sometimes experienced that the assessment to placed an emotional strain on them. Their experience of emotional strain was related to difficulty with regard to role definition, as well as dealing with the often unrealistic expectations of the participants. The research assistants furthermore seemed to experience difficulty in relating to the interview-participant relationship. However, it seemed as if the research assistants’ experience of the participants’ spirituality rendered provided some relieve relief from the emotional strain they experienced during the assessments. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted