Shifting gears: consequences of including two negatively worded items in the middle of a positively worded questionnaire

A questionnaire used in student evaluations of interdisciplinary courses during six semesters contained two Likert items stated in a direct negative mode which were embedded in a questionnaire (14–18 items) in which the remaining items were phrased in a direct positive mode. In the seventh semester and thereafter, the two negative items were restated as direct positive stems. Item‐analysis demonstrated that in the direct negative mode, the two items had low item‐to‐total correlations and that the internal consistency reliability of the sum score could be improved by eliminating the two negatively phrased items. Also, the two negatively worded items defined a separate factor. After they were reworded into a direct positive mode, these two items showed markedly improved item‐to‐total correlations. Moreover, the unique factor disappeared, which suggests that it was a methodological artefact probably attributable to respondent carelessness. Including a few negative items in an otherwise positively stated questionnaire leads to ambiguity of results rather than controlling for response sets. We therefore recommend against the practice.     

Validity of the home and community social behavior scales: Comparisons with five behavior‐rating scales

Three separate studies focusing on convergent and discriminant validity evidence for the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales are presented. The HCSBS is a 65‐item social behavior‐rating scale for use by parents and caretakers of children and youth ages 5–18. It is a parent‐rating version of the School Social Behavior Scales. Within these studies, relationships with five behavior‐rating scales were examined: the Social Skills Rating System, Conners Parent Rating Scale–Revised‐Short Form, Child Behavior Checklist, and the child and adolescent versions of the Behavior Assessment System for Children. HCSBS Scale A, Social Competence, evidenced strong positive correlations with measures of social skills and adaptability, strong negative correlations with measures of externalizing behavior problems, and modest negative correlations with measures of internalizing and atypical behavior problems. HCSBS Scale B, Antisocial Behavior, evidenced strong positive correlations with measures of externalizing behavior problems, modest positive correlations with measures of internalizing and atypical behavior problems, and strong negative correlations with measures of social skills and adaptability. These results support the HCSBS as a measure of social competence and antisocial behavior of children and youth. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Inter-parent agreement on four preschool behavior rating scales: Effects of parent and child gender

This study investigated inter-parent agreement on four preschool behavior rating scales. Sixty-four cohabiting biological parents rated their four and five year-old children's positive and negative behaviors. Results indicated low to moderate inter-parent correlations across all four preschool behavior rating scales for the total sample. Although mean score differences were not significantly different by parent or child gender, absolute differences between pairs of mothers' and fathers' ratings were large and consistent across instruments, as well as by gender of child and gender of parent. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effects of changes in the order of verbal labels and numerical values on children's scores on attitude and rating scales

Research with adults has shown that variations in verbal labels and numerical scale values on rating scales can affect the responses given. However, few studies have been conducted with children. The study aimed to examine potential differences in children's responses to Likert‐type rating scales according to their anchor points and scale direction and to see whether or not such differences were stable over time. A total of 130 British children, aged 9 to 11 years, completed six sets of Likert‐type rating scales, presented in four different ways varying the position of positive labels and numerical values. The results showed, both initially and 8–12 weeks later, that presenting a positive label or a high score on the left of a scale led to significantly higher mean scores than did the other variations. These findings indicate that different arrangements of rating scales can produce different results, which has clear implications for the administration of scales with children.     

Difficult‐to‐manage Students: a survey of children who fail to respond to student discipline strategies in government schools

Previous studies of discipline problems in junior primary and primary schools have indicated that the majority of behaviour management problems both inside and outside classrooms can be attributed to relatively small numbers of children who persist in difficult‐to‐manage behaviour. This study explored particular aspects of these children's behavioural characteristics, as reported from the results of a survey of principals from the majority of junior primary and primary schools in South Australia. The data summarised propose a tentative profile of these difficult‐to‐manage children, together with findings concerning the impact their behaviours have on the school staff. Suggestions are offered for more effectively meeting the demands and needs of these children.     

Thinking it through: a study of how pre-service teachers respond to children who present with possible mental health difficulties

Teachers are key professionals in responding to children and adolescents with possible mental health difficulties and who exhibit social, emotional or behavioural difficulties in the classroom. Health and education policy increasingly positions teachers as vital agents in connecting mental health services with affected young people. A growing corpus of research, however, questions practitioners’ capacity to undertake this important role, particularly given the limited space afforded to content around mental health in pre-service teacher education. This paper reports on a qualitative case study, conducted in an Australian context, investigating pre-service teacher responses to five vignettes of young people presenting behaviours indicative of possible mental health difficulties. In light of educator expectations to identify and appropriately respond to mental health difficulties, this study discloses the need for explicit, structured mental health guidance which form a discrete, core ‘knowledge base’ of teacher education. Patterns in data, analysed in light of policy literature, also suggest the value inherent in advocating open-minded, non-judgemental and collegial professional responses. Further research opportunities highlighted include a systematic review of current provision around mental health in pre-service teacher education programmes.     

Concurrent relationships between two behavioral rating scales for teachers: An examination of self-control,social competence,and school behavioral adjustment

This investigation describes the uses and concurrent relations of two behavioral rating scales for teachers: The Teacher's Self-Control Rating Scale (TSCRS) and The Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment. Both instruments were completed by the regular classroom teachers of 92 students who were referred to multidisciplinary teams because of perceived academic problems. Pearson product-moment correlations between the two instruments were all statistically significant, indicating moderate to high levels of concurrent validity between the two instruments and significant overlap between the constructs they measure, particularly the constructs of behavioral self-control and school behavioral adjustment. Comparisons of the study population with instrument norm scores of typical students indicated that the referred group was rated as having significantly lower levels of social-behavioral competency than the norm groups.     

Discriminative validity of the behavior assessment system for children‐parent rating scales in children with recurrent abdominal pain and matched controls

Examined discriminative validity of the Parent Rating Scale (PRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services). Two groups were compared: a cohort with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) (n= 49) and children from the BASC‐PRS standardization sample (n = 49) matched on the background characteristics of age, race/ethnicity, and gender. A multivariate, two‐group discriminant function analysis was used to compare groups across standard scores from the nine clinical scales of the PRS. Results demonstrated that children with RAP could be differentiated (Wilks λ = .642, F = 6.45, df (9, 88), p < .001), and demonstrated higher scores on the Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, Attention Problems, and Withdrawal scales. Subsequent jackknifed classification analysis, diagnostic efficiency statistics, and an odds ratio for the classification analysis added to the overall validity of results. The practical utility of the BASC‐PRS is further supported in light of expanding roles for school psychologists in the assessment and treatment of children with health problems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 145–154, 2003.     

积极鼓励正确引导加快民办职业教育发展

青岛是我国东部沿海开放城市和计划单列市,总人口730多万,近年来经济快速发展,2004年GDP总值达到2163亿元,财政收入130亿元.经济和社会发展的态势,对职业教育起到了巨大的拉动作用,全市职业教育一直保持快速健康发展.     

积极鼓励依法促进大力推动民办中等职业教育发展

陕西地处我国西部,总面积20.56万平方公里,总人口3 659万人.改革开放以来,我省认真贯彻党和国家有关方针政策,着力促进民办教育事业的发展.民办教育已成为我省教育事业的重要组成部分,在促进经济社会发展、满足广大人民群众日益增长的教育需求方面发挥着越来越重要的作用.目前我省共有民办中等职业学校93所,在校学生近5万人,占全省中等职业学校(不含技工学校)在校生总规模的12%.在促进民办教育整体发展的同时,我们从陕西实际出发,把推动民办中等职业教育的发展摆在突出位置,积极鼓励,依法促进,取得了良好效果.我们的主要做法是:     

Teacher ratings of Hispanic and Anglo students on a behavior rating scale

The study was conducted with 115 Hispanic (53 Males, 62 Females) and 119 Anglo (61 males, 58 females) fifth grade students and 12 teachers (11 females, 1 male) in a public school district in the Southwest. The study was designed to determine teachers’ nomination rates of Hispanic and Anglo students to gifted and talented programs and to establish if there were differences in teachers’ ratings on the SRBCSS across ethnicity and gender groups for nominated and not nominated students. Results indicated that ethnicity was a factor in teachers’ nomination rate and that these differences were more pronounced between Hispanic and Anglo females. Results also indicated that teachers’ ratings on the SRBCSS for nominated Hispanic and Anglo students were similar, but that ratings for non‐nominated students differed significantly by ethnic group.     

高校应对突发公共卫生事件的健康教育现状分析

目前学校健康教育工作偏重中小学,高等院校人员聚集,发生突发性公共卫生事件的几率较高,而高校对突发性公共卫生的健康教育工作存在人员不足、重视不够、方式单一等问题。文章结合高校教育特点,探讨高校应对突发公共卫生实践的健康教育意义及现状,并提出了可行建议。     

Authentic Assessment and Multimedia: how university students respond to a model of authentic assessment

A problem for educators and the developers of interactive multimedia is the apparent incongruity between the demands of authentic assessment and the deliverables of computer‐based assessment. Lecturers wishing to use interactive multimedia are commonly limited to assessment using multiple choice tests which are easily marked by the computer.

This article describes seven defining characteristics of authentic assessment which have been operationalized in a learning environment employing interactive multimedia. The article describes the multimedia program and its implementation with a class of pre‐service teachers. The implication of these findings for educational practice are that authentic assessment can be used within interactive multimedia learning environments, albeit not totally contained within the software itself. The qualitative study reported here showed that students responded favourably to the elements of authentic assessment; that they had a good understanding of the content of the interactive multimedia program; and that the assessment was corroborated by observation of teaching strategies used by the students in their teaching practice.     

How schools and students respond to school improvement programs: The case of Brazil's PDE

This study uses rich empirical data from Brazil to assess how a government program (PDE) that decentralizes school management decisions changes what goes on in schools and how these changes affect student outcomes. It appears that the PDE resulted in some improvements in management and learning materials, but little change in other areas including evaluation and community relations. However, we find no evidence that schools’ participation in the PDE improved student achievement. The results for grade passing are stronger. Students in PDE schools saw greater increases in grade passing rates than students in non-PDE schools during the period of our study. We also estimate a positive relationship between PDE spending and student gains for those schools in the program, especially for spending on teaching and learning materials and furniture. We find no benefit of electronics spending or spending on teacher training, two of the three largest areas of school investment.     

积极发展锐意创新努力开创职业教育新局面

一、"九五"以来四川职业教育改革发展的现状 1.职业教育事业发展保持基本稳定目前,全省有各类中等职业学校969所,在校学生54万人,占高中阶段在校学生的48.9%,基本保持了高中阶段教育协调发展的格局.高等职业教育得到了迅速发展,目前全省有独立设置的高等职业技术学院9所,招收中等职业学校毕业生的"对口高职"招生计划数已占高等教育专科层次招生计划的25.1%;38所重点中职校开展了"五年一贯制"高职教育的试点工作,年招生规模已达13 500人,中职通往高职的渠道已经形成.     

To click or not to click: Effectiveness of rating classroom behaviors on academic achievement with tablets

Due to the time constraint and lack of concise contextualized classroom behavior indicators, current typical primary school classroom behavior management practices are ad-hoc and lack historical data support. To circumvent these problems, we designed a tablet-based classroom behavior management system (CBMS) for a primary school setting. The CBMS aids teachers in establishing concise and consistent behavioral expectations based on teaching experience and expertise, thus allowing them to conveniently provide timely feedback on pupils’ performance and log ratings on a daily basis. We conducted a 1.5 years field study in a primary school Chinese course in East China, in which 124 pupils in the first grade and four Chinese teachers participated. The analysis of recorded data indicates that teachers’ daily behavioral ratings are positively correlated with their pupils’ academic achievements. The behavior rating strategy and indicators in CBMS can act as a substitute in promoting pupil's academic achievements. Our proposed system shows the feasibility and potential of handheld computer-based assessment strategy in implementing cost-effective classroom organization practices for low grade-level primary school pupils.     

4～5岁儿童行为问题调查及干预研究

目的：了解学龄前儿童行为问题现状及其影响因素.方法：用Conners父母问卷对441例4～5岁学龄前儿童的行为等问题进行调查后,抽取部分儿童进行干预,并调查干预后的效果.结果：学龄前儿童行为异常检出率为11.56%,其得分均显著高于全国常模.干预后儿童行为问题得分显著低于干预前.结论：应采取适当的心理和社会干预措施,以提高学龄前儿童身心健康水平.