John M. Hintze

Development and refinement of a measure for assessing the acceptability of assessment methods: The assessment rating profile-revised

This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of the Assessment Rating Profile-Revised (ARP-R), an instrument designed to evaluate the acceptability of assessment methods. First, an overview of the initial exploratory work on the original scale, the Assessment Rating Profile (APR; Kratochwill & Van Someren, 1984), is provided. Research examining the reliability and validity of the ARP is reviewed and psychometric inadequacies are highlighted. Next, the results of a study examining the psychometric properties of the revised measure are reported. The results of the study indicated that the ARP-R demonstrated good internal consistency, with coefficients ranging from .94 to .99. Test-retest reliability across 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month intervals rangedfrom .82 to .85, suggesting adequate stability over time. Confirmatory factor analytic procedures indicated a reasonable fit of the data to the proposed one-factor model, “General Assessment Acceptability.” Lastly, suggestions are made regarding use of the ARP-R in applied and research settings.

The Effects of Performance Feedback and Goal Setting on Oral Reading Fluency Within Curriculum-Based Measurement

This study assessed the effects of two types of goal-setting graphing procedures used within curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to provide performance feedback to students regarding oral reading fluency. Eighteen second-grade students were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: dynamic goal line, static goal line, and control. Calculation of effect sizes for the treatment conditions suggested that students receiving biweekly performance feedback toward short-term (biweekly) or long-term (eight-week) goals evidenced educationally relevant and noticeable change in oral reading fluency compared with a no-treatment control.

Using Curriculum-Based Measurement to Evaluate Intervention Efficacy

SUMMARY The use of Curriculum-Based Measurement for evaluating treatment efficacy is described and discussed. The basic methods and applications of Curriculum-Based Measurement are described, followed by examples of its application in two intervention program evaluation projects. The first project involved one individual student experiencing academic difficulties. The second project focused on evaluating a reading instruction program for a group of students. In both examples, the use of Curriculum-Based Measurement contributed significantly to monitoring student progress in response to educational program variables and making treatment evaluation decisions.

The Effects of Supplemental Sentence-Level Instruction for Fourth-Grade Students Identified as Struggling Writers.

ABSTRACT The Language and Writing strands of the Common Core State Standards place a heavy emphasis on sentence-level conventions including syntax/grammar and mechanics. Interventions targeting these foundational skills are necessary to support struggling writers, as poorly developed sentence construction skills inhibit more complex writing tasks. This study examined the effects of a supplemental intervention on the writing skills of 4th-grade students identified as struggling writers. The intervention used explicit instruction and the self-regulated strategy development framework to teach students a sentence construction strategy along with self-regulation procedures. We used a regression discontinuity design to test whether students included in the intervention group outperformed their predicted scores on assessments of writing conventions and story quality. Results indicated that the intervention was successful at improving struggling writers’ ability to use accepted orthographic and grammatic conventions during composition. The intervention was not effective for improving the broader domain of story quality.

School psychology publishing contributions to the advancement of knowledge, science, and its application: An introduction to the themed issue

This introductory article briefly reviews the studies and commentaries making up this themed issue on the process and products of professional publications in school psychology. Each article highlights important considerations for advancing scholarly scientific publishing in the field of school psychology. A case is made that enhancing the quality of scientific publications, as well as accumulating scholarly findings over time, serve as the primary mechanisms for improving practice for children, families, and school professionals. This article highlights features of the studies and commentaries directly related to advancing knowledge, science, and its application in school psychology.