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This study aimed to validate a scale for subjectively measuring teaching competencies for innovation in higher education. The scale was developed by creating a set of items that underwent content validity through the Delphi technique and face validity. A survey was then conducted with 523 higher education professors. The resulting scale, called the STW-ICE Scale, consists of four dimensions: continuing education, creativity, digital fluency, and scientificity. We found that the scale has psychometric properties that allow for subjective measurement of the proposed competencies. The SmartPLS and SPSS software were used for data assessment. Additionally, we found high levels of teaching skills in the sample for all dimensions. Based on these findings, this study successfully achieved its goal of developing and validating a scale. We hope that this scale will be used not only for classificatory diagnoses but also to encourage reflection on teaching practices in higher education with a focus on innovation.

The insertion of Machine Learning (ML) in everyday life demonstrates the importance of popularizing an understanding of ML already in school. Accompanying this trend arises the need to assess the students' learning. Yet, so far, few assessments have been proposed, most lacking an evaluation. Therefore, we evaluate the reliability and validity of an automated assessment of the students' learning of an image classification model created as a learning outcome of the "ML for All!" course. Results based on data collected from 240 students indicate that the assessment can be considered reliable (coefficient Omega = 0.834/Cronbach's alpha [alpha] = 0.83). We also identified moderate to strong convergent and discriminant validity based on the polychoric correlation matrix. Factor analyses indicate two underlying factors "Data Management and Model Training" and "Performance Interpretation", completing each other. These results can guide the improvement of assessments, as well as the decision on the application of this model in order to support ML education as part of a comprehensive assessment.

"Grit" is a stable and measurable trait. It refers to the individual's ability to maintain efforts and interest in projects that take time to complete and are useful in educational contexts. In this study we investigated the validity of a short version of the Grit |International Assessment Scale, Portuguese Version (EAGrit-LP) based on the internal structure and invariance. A total of 1402 students from Brazil (53.2%) and Portugal (46.8%) participated in the survey. The students answered online the EAGrit-LP and the sociodemographic questionnaire. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to reduce the EAGrit-LP from 12 to 8 items, with two factors explaining 55.7% variance and replicating the theoretical structure, with excellent fit indices. Invariance analysis showed no differences in the responses of male and female participants. The results demonstrate that the short version of the instrument presents evidence of internal structure validity and invariance in connection with genders.

This study describes the cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS-3), which assesses 11 skills areas within three major adaptive domains: the conceptual, social, and practical. The translation was performed by two independent translators, which was followed by the synthesis of the translations by two experts and then an analysis of the synthesis by 33 specialists from the areas of health and education (three per subscale) who were experts in the domains evaluated by ABAS-3. Of the 1121 items of the five ABAS-3 forms, 82 (7.31%) needed revision. There was good agreement between the specialists in respect of most items, with only minor adjustments being required. There was good evidence of content validity and the adequacy of the adaptation in respect of the conceptual, idiomatic, and semantic aspects of the items of the instrument. This initial process of cross-cultural adaptation was necessary because adaptive behavior is strongly influenced by environmental factors such as socioeconomic status and culture.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have emerged as an affordable way to distribute knowledge and democratize education. The examination of online courses calls for theoretical models and instruments that contemplate its particularities. The community of inquiry (CoI) framework has been used in several studies to analyze the effectiveness of online education and hybrid education, including MOOCs. This study aimed to translate and validate the Community of Inquiry Survey instrument (Arbaugh et al., 2008) into Brazilian Portuguese, and used a two-stage methodological design for translating and validating a questionnaire. In the first stage, we carried out translation, back-translation, and cross-cultural adaptation. We translated the 34 items while maintaining the survey's original format. In the expert evaluation phase, all items were considered understandable and essential for inclusion in the Brazilian Portuguese version of the CoI instrument. In the second stage, a prospective cross-sectional study was conducted to validate the questionnaire, and data was collected from participants completing the "Nursing Assessment" MOOC available on the Lúmina platform. A total of 690 responses were gathered. The resulting instrument produced excellent results, and the three presences achieved high reliability indexes, clearly indicating their adequacy. Furthermore, this study proved the validation of the CoI instrument, maintaining the three-factor structure previously reported in the literature corresponding to the three presences: teaching, social, and cognitive presence. We recommend further studies to evaluate the need for excluding or altering cognitive presence items.

The protean career orientation is descriptive of workers who show self-directedness and values-driven behaviors toward professional advancement. Such characteristics have been highly demanded from professionals in the past decades, evidencing their identification and development relevance. Considering that identifying construct structure and invariance is critical for effective measurement and both theory-building and practice, this study aimed to adapt and obtain internal and external validity evidence of the Protean Career Measure to the Brazilian context. Participants were 558 professionals (67% women). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a unidimensional model. They provided evidence of configural, metric, and scalar invariance between men and women. Also, they showed convergence between the protean career orientation and career models based on other characteristics (kaleidoscope, adaptability, and work engagement). Finally, results showed that the protean orientation tends to be higher, according to the participants' life/career stages' advancement. We discuss the application for research and interventions.

This paper documents the translation and adaptation of the "Career Adapt-Abilities Scale + Cooperation Scale" (CAAS + C; Savickas & Porfeli, 2015) to the Brazilian context and provides initial validity evidence for this instrument by testing its internal structure and exploring its relationships with external variables (i.e., Big Five traits, social support, and preference for working in groups). Data were gathered in two Brazilian samples (N = 351 and N = 920, respectively). Regarding the internal structure of the 30-item CAAS + C-Brazilian form, the results provided clear support for the expected five-dimensional solution, including career Concern, Confidence, Curiosity, Confidence, and Cooperation. Further, Cooperation was the adaptability dimension with the strongest correlation with social support, and this dimension demonstrated weaker correlations with the Big Five factors when compared to the other adaptability dimensions. Finally, Cooperation was identified as the only adaptability dimension significantly related to the preference for working in groups. The results of this study provide support for the structural and criterion validity of the CAAS + C scale in a Brazilian context.

Online learning is a reality in much of the world. Among the tools available for online learning, there are Online Discussion Forums (ODF), due to their potential to promote collaborative learning. However, there is a lack in the literature about the evaluation of the forums, a gap marked by the absence of quantitative tools that make it possible to evaluate the forums from the student's perspective. In this sense, the objective of this paper was to develop and validate a Quality Perception of Online Discussion Forums (QPODF) scale. To this end, quantitative research was carried out with students of postgraduate courses "lato sensu" the online distance education. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the QPODF scale. The results demonstrate that the quality of the construct perceived online discussion forums has two dimensions "Forum Structure" and "Forum Mediation." The two identified factors were shown to be consistent and accurate to measure the quality of online forums. Moreover, the theoretical approach used to compose the scale is convergent with the measurement model proposed in the paper.

In this paper, we discuss the development and initial validation of an instrument, namely IV-SOPRA (Index of Violence Suffered and Practiced), measuring levels of violence suffered and practiced by students in Higher Education institutions; thus, seeking to advance research into the issue of violence connected to Higher Education. Participants are undergraduate students (n = 1188), who responded to an online questionnaire from a university in the south of Brazil. This was a convenience sample. The population was from all undergraduate courses offered at the partner university (i.e. Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; Sciences; Medicine). Data analysis was conducted using R environment (R Core Team, 2020), and lavaan package (Rosseel, 2011). Confirmatory factor analysis was carried to investigate model fit to the data according to theorised structure of the IV-SOPRA subscales. Each subscale demonstrates good to excellent fit to the data, according to fit measures and reliability indices. The instrument provides Higher Education institutions with a tool for evaluating and diagnosing levels of prejudice and bullying on campus, so that effective measures can be put in place to deal with problems at hand.

The aim of this study was to present the construction process of the Coping Inventory for Paralympic Athletes in Competition Situations (ICAP) and, as well, evidence of its content validity. The ICAP was developed to evaluate coping strategies in Paralympic athletes aged 18 years and older, possessing physical and/or visual impairment. The instrument is self-reported and includes the dimensions of Self-Reliance, Support-Seeking, Problem-Solving, Information-Seeking, Accommodation, Negotiation, Delegation, Social Isolation, Helplessness, Escape, Submission, and Opposition. Development of the instrument involved: (1) theoretical foundation based on the motivational theory of coping; (2) construction of the preliminary version of the instrument; (3) items analysis by expert judges; (4) semantic analysis of the items; and (5) pilot study. These procedures enabled the creation and refinement of the instrument. Some items were deleted and modified, reaching a final version of 91 items. This exhaustive process is considered to have ensured the content validity of the instrument. It is hoped that the ICAP can contribute in the future to the areas of sports psychology and Paralympic sport, both in the context of research and in practice.

We aimed to refine the previously proposed antisocial subscale for the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory 2 (IDCP-ASPD). The sample involved 628 Brazilian adults between 18 and 81 years old. We administered the revised ASPD subscale (IDCP-ASPD-R), the Affective and Cognitive Measure of Empathy (ACME), the Crime and Analogous Behavior Scale (CAB), and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy (LSRP). We confirmed the 3-factors structure for the IDCP-ASPD-R. The IDCP-ASPD-R and its former version presented a good capacity to distinguish the groups, with the largest effect size for the Affective factor (IDCP-ASPD-R). Although the IDCP-ASPD-R has shown good performance, we have observed only a slight increase over the previous version of the scale. Therefore, we can only expect a small higher contribution of IDCP-ASPD-R in its practical application to group discrimination. However, from a theoretical perspective, the IDCP-ASPD-R overrides its former version.

The usefulness of evaluation is critical. Evaluation use occurs when, from its results or process, decisions are made about the program, it changes people's mindsets, or persuasive or legitimation actions happen (instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic uses respectively). Few quantitative evaluation use studies have been conducted in recent years. Most existing evaluation use scales are outdated due to theoretical advances and were project or program specific, not designed for evaluation systems. This study was designed to develop the Evaluation Use Scale for Evaluation Systems (EUS-ES) and gather initial validity evidence. We collected and analyzed data from Brazilian professors and program coordinators who were consultants of the Brazilian Graduate Evaluation System. Validity evidence was collected based on instrument content and internal structure. CFA results supported a three-factor-correlated model with adequate score reliability estimates. The EUS-ES is valuable for diagnostic purposes to identify low/high evaluation uses in an evaluation system setting.

Academic procrastination has a significant influence on students' lives, being related to several relevant variables, such as lower self-esteem, higher levels of academic anxiety, and fear of failure. The development and adaptation of reliable instruments help to assure a more in-depth study of academic procrastination. The present research aimed to adapt and assess evidence of validity and reliability of the scores of the Academic Procrastination Scale (APS) for a Brazilian sample (N = 1241). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis supported the unidimensional structure of the APS (25 items). In Study 2, the one-factor structure had an adequate model fit via confirmatory factor analysis. Also, through item response theory, the APS items showed adequate discrimination, difficulty, and level of information. The scores of the APS were also significantly correlated with the scores of the Tuckman Procrastination Scale, providing evidence of convergent validity.

Background: Motor skill assessment is time-consuming and some difficulties are inherent in the administration of motor tests, especially in children with neurodevelopment disorders. Purpose: This study aimed to develop and investigate the face, content, and criterion validity of a Motor Skills Sequential Pictures (MSSP) for the Test of Gross Motor Development -- 3 (TGMD-3) to be animated and used in a mobile application (App). Methods: The MSSP was created representing each of the 13 TGMD-3 skills, performance criteria and accuracy was assessed by 23 experts, 52 undergraduate students, and 66 children (range 3-10 years; n = 48 with neurotypical development, n = 18 with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD). We conducted two rounds of MSSP expert evaluations to improve the MSSP accuracy. Content validity was conducted with the experts' results using percentage of agreement, content validity coefficient (CVC), kappa, and Chi[superscript 2] tests for the first and final version of the MSSP. University students participated in the face validity evaluation of the MSSP final version using percentage of agreement. Further content validity was conducted with experts and university students' scores using Chi[superscript 2]. Children participated in the last phase of the study and were requested to identify and perform the skills, and if unsuccessful, they received verbal support based on the motor performance criteria. Results: For content validity results associated with the experts' agreement, scores were high and increased from the first to the second round (CVC from 87.0% to 96.1%; Kappa coefficient >0.60, p > 0.0001). High agreement was obtained for the face validity of all skills (range 94.1-100%). Further, significant associations were found for experts and university students scores for the MSSP final version (p [less than or equal to] 0.002), providing further evidence for the MSSP content validity. The results for children with neurotypical development showed that children aged 3-4 had more difficulties in identifying the skills compared to older children. Developmental criterion validity was found for several skills (hop, jump, slide, one-hand strike, two-hand strike; p values from <0.0001 to .050); the MSSP was a more robust support as children age. In the ASD group, identifying skills was difficult for all ages, but mainly in locomotor skills. Furthermore, an inverse trend was found for the developmental validity criteria for children with ASD for several skills (sSkip, jump, slide, catch, kick; p values from .016 to .050), younger children relied more on the MSSP support to identify the skills. Conclusion: The MSSP, mainly ball skills, proved to be valid to illustrate the TGMD-3 motor performance criteria and may be useful as a visual pedagogical support for children to facilitate skill understanding. Future directions will be to evaluate whether the MSSP animation, in an app-based program, will improve children's motor skill performance.

The Oral Motor Assessment Scale (OMAS) is a diagnostic tool used to assess the oral motor skills in individuals with neurological and neuromuscular disorders. This assessment was developed by Brazilian researchers and for the first time, its validity and reliability was examined in Brazil. The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity and reliability of the adopted Persian version of the OMAS (OMAS-P) to assess the oral skills of Iranian individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). In this non-experimental descriptive-analytical study 120 people (60 children and adolescents with CP) aged 3 to 15 years and 60 healthy subjects) participated. The research was carried out in number of stages including translation and adaptation of the OMAS to Persian (OMAS-P) in a forward-backward way. The oral motor skills functionality of the 120 people was examined using the OMAS-P. To assess the repeatability and reliability of the OMAS-P the assessments was repeated on the participants with CP disorder after two weeks. Results corresponding to this study indicated a reasonable agreement (Kappa >0.7) for all the OMAS-P items. The mean values of the OMAS-P items were appreciably different between the two groups (p < 0.001). The Persian version of the OMAS (OMAS-P) indicated consistent psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable tool for oral motor skills assessment in people with CP. However, it seems that by specifying factors such as the time frame for the OMAS, the position of the child during assessment, and whether or not parents use facilitating techniques, the comprehensiveness and efficiency of the OMAS data will also upgrade.

The purpose of this research was to organize a cross-cultural adaptation study and analyze the reproducibility and test-retest reliability of the Infant Sensory Profile 2 (ISP2Br) to Brazilian babies. It was hypothesized that the instrument would be validated for use with Brazilian babies. The English language version of the profile was translated and culturally adapted into Brazilian Portuguese, then administered to a group of 135 caregivers of infant from birth to 06 months and then re-administered to a portion of the sample (35 caregivers) for 7 to 14 days for test-retest reliability. Participants were recruited from an outpatient pediatric clinic of a federal university in Brazil and at two pediatric research laboratories. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability was analyzed using the Cronbach's alpha and kappa coefficient, respectively. As it is a norm-referenced standardized assessment, the cutoff scores used were 1.0 and 2.0 standard deviations above and below the mean for each group of items established as the preliminary cutoff scores for the Brazilian children. Findings showed that cultural adaptation led to adjustments in some terms used in the ISP2Br and it showed good internal consistency (>0.70) relating to the total scale; however, when it was analyzed for sensory areas, all alpha values were <0.70. Regarding the test-retest, the values fell into the category of near-perfect agreement (0.81 < k < 1.00). The ISP2Br was found to be valid and reliable and allows occupational therapists to identify differences in sensory patterns in Brazilian babies compared to the original standardization sample, responding differently from would expect.

Background: The assessment of knowledge about cardiovascular diseases through instruments helps to identify gaps and educational needs of the target audience. Purpose: To validate and verify the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the Heart Disease Knowledge Questionnaire (HDKQ-BR) for adults in Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional methodological study carried out in a Brazilian city with 300 participants. Internal consistency, temporal stability (test-retest) and convergent structural validity were verified. Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to determine parameters a (discrimination) and b (difficulty) of each item and the unidimensionality of the instrument and the differential item functioning (DIF) for sex, education and age. Results: The internal consistency of the HDKQ-BR was 0.694. The test-retest reliability was confirmed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.779). According to the IRT, parameter a was between 0.176 and 1.175 and parameter b between -10.834 and 4.969. Discussion: The HDKQ-BR showed unidimensional structure and adequate psychometric performance for its application in populations with the same profile in Brazil. Translation to Health Education Practice: To assess the knowledge of an adult population about CVDs is important for improving the health literacy. The study focused on Area I of Responsibilities for Health Education Specialists (Assessment of Needs and Capacity).

Background: The Test of Gross Motor Development--3 (TGMD-3) is used to assess locomotor (LOCS) and ball (BS) skills in children. This test provides relevant information for evaluating learning and determining teaching efficacy. However, conducting and coding the test is time consuming. A screening form may improve its usage in specific settings and populations. Purpose: This study aimed to develop a screening form for the TGMD-3-SF and examine its validity and reliability. Method: We assessed 1,192 3-to-10-year-old children; 772 children completed the TGMD-3 and 420 the TGMD-3-SF; 114 children were retested for temporal stability and 300 for criterion validity. Results: We found appropriate results for the two-factors model, LOCS (gallop, hop, and skip) and BS (one-hand strike, kick, and overhand throw), RMSEA = 0.025, comparative-fit index = 0.99, and Tukey--Lewis index = 0.99; internal consistency (LOCS, [alpha] = 0.60; BS, [alpha] = 0.71); item validity (LOCS, r = 0.43, p < 0.001; BS, r = 0.47, p < 0.001); interrater (ICC = 0.86-0.99), intrarater (ICC = 0.61-0.92), test-retest (LOCS, ICC = 0.87; BS, ICC = 0.78) reliability, and concurrent validity (LOCS, r = 0.89, p < 0.01; BS, r = 0.90, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The TGMD-3-SF is valid and reliable for assessing children's gross motor development.

This paper evaluates the influence of the classmates' age on individual academic achievement. The identification strategy explores a mechanism for the division of classes based on age homogeneity, with cutoff value determined by the Brazilian law of age at school entry. Fuzzy regression discontinuity estimates a local average treatment effect of 2.34 standard deviations favorable to students assigned to class with older peers, in comparison to those allocated to classes with younger classmates. The empirical estimations use a unique educational dataset originated from the Brazilian Ministry of Education, which provides a large information set related to the student's scholar environment.

This research sought to analyze the reliability of an instrument to measure teacher knowledge of a group of pre-service chemistry teachers participating in the Institutional Program for Scholarships for Beginner Teachers in Brazil (PIBID). Thus, it was analyzed the evaluation of a group of students about the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of five pre-service chemistry teachers from the program. Accordingly, an instrument containing 28 statements and an open question was applied to a group of 70 students from a public school to whom the pre-service teachers had applied their didactic proposals. The purpose of the instrument was to measure the perception of the students' about the components of the teacher knowledge (Subject Matter Knowledge -- SMK, Instructional Representation and Strategies -- IRS, Instructional Objective and Context -- IOC and Knowledge of Students' Understanding -- KSU) of the pre-service teachers. The results of the analysis revealed that the instrument about teacher's knowledge has a high reliability based on the alpha Cronbach values. The results of the alpha coefficient for the pre-service teachers were all above 0.9 suggesting that the instrument is reliable and has consistent measurements. Regarding to the exploratory analysis, the main scale in the PCK evaluation of the undergraduates was four which means that the students consider that the aspects related to the SMK, IRS, IOC and KSU are frequently present in the classes of the future teachers.

The objective of this article is to present the development and evaluation of dETECT (Evaluating TEaching CompuTing), a model for the evaluation of the quality of instructional units for teaching computing in middle school based on the students' perception collected through a measurement instrument. The dETECT model was systematically developed and evaluated based on data collected from 16 case studies in 13 different middle school institutions with responses from 477 students. Our results indicate that the dETECT model is acceptable in terms of reliability (Cronbach's alpha a = 0.787) and construct validity, demonstrating an acceptable degree of correlation found between almost all items of the dETECT measurement instrument. These results allow researchers and instructors to rely on the dETECT model in order to evaluate instructional units and, thus, contribute to their improvement and to direct an effective and efficient adoption of teaching computing in middle school.

The present study compares the fit of two- and three-parameter logistic (2PL and 3PL) models of item response theory in the performance of preschool children on the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices. The test of Raven is widely used for evaluating nonverbal intelligence of factor g. Studies comparing models with real data are scarce on the literature and this is the first to compare models of two and three parameters for the test of Raven, evaluating the informational gain of considering guessing probability. Participants were 582 Brazilian's preschool children (M[subscript age] = 57 months; SD = 7 months; 46% female) who responded individually to the instrument. The model fit indices suggested that the 2PL fit better to the data. The difficulty and ability parameters were similar between the models, with almost perfect correlations. Differences were observed in terms of discrimination and test information. The principle of parsimony must be called for comparing models.

This study aimed to examine the validity of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), the current gold-standard measure of parental burnout (PB). We surveyed parents in Portugal (N = 407) and Brazil (N = 301). We (a) compared the factor structure of the Brazilian-Portuguese version with the original structure of the PBA, (b) tested the adequacy of a second-order factor structure, (c) evaluated invariance across gender and countries, (d) examined reliability, and (e) evaluated whether PB levels are related to gender, satisfaction with life, and parental self-efficacy (PSE). Results provided evidence for the validity of the Brazilian-Portuguese PBA and its four facets. Factor models supported the use of both individual facet scores and a global PB score. The structures tested were invariant across countries and gender, and all factors had good reliability. Relations with PSE, life satisfaction, and gender provided initial evidence for validity, and suggested a possible influence of intensive motherhood models.

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Autism Mental Status Examination (AMSE) in a Brazilian sample of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A sample of 260 children and adolescents, comprising 56 (21.5%) females and 204 (78.5%) males, was assessed. The participants were submitted to both the childhood autism rating scale (CARS-BR) and the AMSE. The CARS-BR was used to estimate ASD severity and the cutoff point on the AMSE. Spearman's correlation test was employed to determine the correlation between the AMSE and CARS-BR scales. The cutoff values were calculated using the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve, identifying the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). The homogeneity of the items of the AMSE was determined using Cronbach's alpha. The AMSE exhibited good internal consistency (0.74), sensitivity (0.91) and specificity (0.98); and high correlation with the CARS-BR ([rho] = 0.91, p < 0.01). Preliminary results showed that the AMSE is a tool with good psychometric properties for ASD screening.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and validate a screening questionnaire for the early identification of language difficulties in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking preschool children. Method: The article is divided into two studies. In the first study, we reported the theoretical principles that guided the development of the Screening for Identification of Oral Language Difficulties by Preschool Teachers (SIOLD) and tested the validity of its structure. The psychometric properties of the SIOLD were tested using a sample of 754 children attending Year 1 of preschool. Thirty-two teachers coming from eight different schools completed individual questionnaires for all their students. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the SIOLD. In the second study, we investigated the accuracy of the questionnaire for identifying children with oral language difficulties using a different sample of 100 preschool children. Using receiver operating characteristic and precision recall curves, we assessed the sensitivity and specificity of the SIOLD to identify children who showed impaired language performance in a short battery of tests. Results: The SIOLD has been shown to be a valid and accurate questionnaire for assessing the form and content of oral language in preschool children. It showed good accuracy, with sensitivity ranging between 0.750 and 0.857 and specificity of 0.946 for the identification of language difficulties. Among the cases positively identified by the SIOLD as having language difficulties, 54.5% were true cases of language disorders, while 45.5% were false alarms. The combination of these findings shows that the SIOLD overpredicts positive cases but identifies most children with true language disorders and passes most children without language disorders, as required of a good screening test. Conclusions: The questionnaire provides a useful tool for enabling Brazilian teachers to refer children with language difficulties to the speech-language services. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

An adapted version of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence--Third Edition (WPPSI-III) was administered to assess cognitive functioning among 1,253 5-year-old children from the Malnutrition and Enteric Disease (MAL-ED) study--an international, multisite study investigating multiple aspects of child development. In this study, the factor structure and invariance of the WPPSI-III were examined across seven international research sites located in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, and Tanzania. Using a multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) modeling approach, the findings supported the validity of a fluid reasoning dimension (comprised of block design, matrix reasoning, and picture completion subscales) across each of the seven sites, although the scores were noninvariant. Accordingly, these scores are recommended for research purposes and understanding relationships between variables but not for mean comparisons or clinical purposes.

The aims of this study were to perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) 6-20 Scale to Brazilian Portuguese language and to start testing its validity and reliability. After performing the cross-cultural adaptation of the Scale, concurrent and discriminative validity, and reliability were determined on a treadmill in young (18-30 years) and older adult women (60-75 years). Considering young and older adult women, RPE presented high and moderate positive correlation with heart rate and high and low positive correlation with oxygen consumption, respectively. Older adult women presented RPE (11 ± 2) significantly higher than young ones (8 ± 1) exercising at the same absolute intensity. Intraclass coefficient correlation was excellent for RPE to young and older adult women. The Scale presented concurrent validity only to young adult women, whereas it presented discriminative validity between such groups of women. Moreover, the scale is reliable to young and older adult women.

What type of items, keyed positively or negatively, makes social-emotional skill or personality scales more valid? The present study examines the different criterion validities of true- and false-keyed items, before and after correction for acquiescence. The sample included 12,987 children and adolescents from 425 schools of the State of São Paulo Brazil (ages 11-18 attending grades 6-12). They answered a computerized 162-item questionnaire measuring 18 facets grouped into five broad domains of social-emotional skills, i.e.: Open-mindedness (O), Conscientious Self-Management (C), Engaging with others (E), Amity (A), and Negative-Emotion Regulation (N). All facet scales were fully balanced (3 true-keyed and 3 false-keyed items per facet). Criterion validity coefficients of scales composed of only true-keyed items versus only false-keyed items were compared. The criterion measure was a standardized achievement test of language and math ability. We found that coefficients were almost as twice as big for false-keyed items' scales than for true-keyed items' scales. After correcting for acquiescence coefficients became more similar. Acquiescence suppresses the criterion validity of unbalanced scales composed of true-keyed items. We conclude that balanced scales with pairs of true and false keyed items make a better scale in terms of internal structural and predictive validity.

Celpe-Bras, is the exam for the certification of proficiency in Portuguese as a foreign language. It, is the only Portuguese proficiency test recognized by the Brazilian government (Ministério da Educação, 2013). Given the recent growth of interest and also its unique design as a large-scale proficiency test, this article provides a general description and appraisal of the test. It then examines the overall usefulness and fairness of Celpe-Bras, using Kunnan's (2018) most recent model of test fairness and justice. An evidence-based appraisal of 6 claims in relation to opportunity-to-learn, consistency and meaningfulness, absence of bias, access, as well as washback and consequences brought about by the development and administration of Celpe-Bras, will be presented. Overall, the review shows that Celpe-Bras test developers do take great care in their design, development, and administration of the test to address core issues of validity, reliability, and authenticity. In addition, a rather transparent mechanism is adopted, which certainly helps promote fairness and justice in the implementation and use of this large-scale, high-stakes language test. As the current field of language testing still tends to focus on the assessment practices and issues of English language testing, the authors hope that this review, together with other such recent reviews (e.g., Elder, 2018), could help to raise awareness about the assessment of world languages other than English, hence expanding the profession's scope and impact.

Background/Objective: The available information pertaining to the attitudes of Brazilian physical education teachers about teaching students with disabilities is limited in the extant literature base. Rationally, however, scholars argue that determining, analyzing, and theorizing about the attitudes of physical education teachers is important in the preparation and professional development of these teachers. It is therefore important to extend the research base using valid and reliable measures regarding teachers' attitudes about inclusion and teaching students with various disabilities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the underlying dimensions of the "Physical Educators' Judgments about Inclusion" ("PEJI") scale following translation procedures that converted the existing measure to Portuguese. The PEJI was designed to analyze teachers' attitudes about inclusion and teaching students with various disabilities. Method: Using a descriptive survey research design, data were collected from 147 participants (women = 57.1%, men = 42.9%) on the PEJI survey instrument. Results: Principal component analysis resulted in salient loadings on three dimensions consistent with prior study using the PEJI and explained 57% of the variance for measuring judgments about: "Inclusion versus Exclusion, Acceptance of Students with Disabilities," and "Perceived Training Needs." Conclusions: The overall results confirm validity of the PEJI survey consistent with prior study on this measure. The strong magnitude of values indicates that each of the subscales measures separate dimensions of judgments (attitudes). Implications for future use, we recommend reporting individual scale scores rather than a total PEJI score.

This study aims to translate the Brief Autism Mealtime Behaviour Inventory (BAMBI) questionnaire to Brazilian Portuguese, in order to provide a tool to be used in clinic routine that encourages the evaluation of the feeding behaviour of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The final sample contained 410 participants, the mean age was 9.58 [plus minus] 1.2 and the majority of participants were male (95%). Validation of this questionnaire allows a structured evaluation for this population to be integrated not only into the clinical routine but also to help parent's interventions about the eating problems and possible consequences. This is of utmost importance, since parents are reporting the nutritional aspects more often, and studies indicate that up to 80% of ASD patients may present feeding behavior problems.

The Bayley's Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) were used to measure the development of 24-month-old children (N = 1,452) in the Interactions of Malnutrition and Enteric Infections: Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study (an international, multisite study on many aspects of child development). This study examined the factor structure and measurement equivalence/invariance of Bayley-III scores across 7 international research sites located in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, and South Africa. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to identify the factor structure of Bayley-III scores. Subsequently, reliability analyses and item response theory analyses were applied, and invariance was examined using multiple-indicator, multiple-cause modeling. The findings supported the validity, but not invariance, of Bayley-III language scores at all seven sites and of the cognitive and motor scores at six sites. These findings provide support for the use of scores for research purposes, but mean comparison between sites is not recommended. Impact and Implications: In measurement, validity refers to the extent to which we are measuring what we intend to measure and the appropriateness of inferences we make based on our measurements. The validity of scores from measures often varies across cultures, and this study examined the validity of a measure of child development among children from sites in seven low- and middle-income countries. The findings indicate that the majority of the scores are valid for research, but measurement differences are evident such that it is not appropriate to compare mean scores across sites. [Co-written with the MAL-ED Network Investigators.]

In this study, we define the term "screener test," elaborate key considerations in test design, and describe how to incorporate the concepts of practicality and argument-based validation to drive an evaluation of screener tests for language assessment. A screener test is defined as a brief assessment designed to identify an examinee as a member of a particular population or subpopulation. Consequently, its focus of measurement is to provide information that distinguishes the targeted subpopulations. Although the trade-off between measurement quality and practicality is an important consideration for any assessment (Bachman & Palmer, 1996), practicality is a particularly critical feature of low-stakes screener tests in language assessment given their use in routing examinees to other assessments, rather than serving as the basis for higher-stakes decision making. In order to demonstrate how an evaluation may be applied to a screener test, we describe the development and evaluation of a proposed screener test for the TOEFL Primary Reading test. The claims articulated through the development process and evidence collected throughout development and pilot testing enable a wide-ranging, comparative evaluation of five- and 10-item TOEFL Primary Reading screener tests that systematically incorporate the concepts of measurement quality, impact, and practicality.

Characteristics of temperament have been shown to predict aspects of personality and psychopathology. Approach temperament (i.e., sensitivity, reactivity, and behavioral disposition toward reward stimuli) may be a particularly salient predictor of developmental outcomes (e.g., Nigg, 2006; Shiner & Caspi, 2003). However, there is little research on approach temperament among children from low- and middle-income nations. This study examined the validity of an adapted version of the Infant Temperament Scale across eight international sites with a focus on approach temperament. Our sample included 1,933 infants from eight study sites in low- and middle-income nations: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Peru, Pakistan, South Africa, and Tanzania. The Infant Temperament Scale was translated and administered as a structured interview to caregivers at each site. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the factor structure of the scale, and multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) modeling was used to examine invariance of scores across sites. The findings supported the validity of an approach temperament factor. Although the findings did not support the cross-cultural use of the entire Infant Temperament Scale among individuals from low- and middle-income nations in our sample, the supported approach temperament factor is a theoretically important subconstruct. Moreover, the inability to measure other aspects of temperament across cultures may have important implications for researchers interested in the nature of temperament. Implications and future directions are discussed. [Co-written with The MAL-ED Network Investigators.]

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology. In this study, an instrument to measure the social attitudes of the Brazilian students based on distance education was developed and validated. The study population consisted of public administration undergraduate students that has been providing by distance education by University of Brasília, in Brazil. The sample of the study consisted of 590 Brazilian students. The scale has 41 items, with total Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.94, and reliability coefficient (KMO) of 0.94. The correlations of each item with total point were between 0.30 and 0.79. A factor analysis was run using direct oblimin rotation for construct validity, resulting in 4 factors structure explaining 47.12% of total variability. These factors are "Personnel and Dispositional Aspects," "Procedural Characteristics," "Negative Affects" and "Internalization and habituation of usage." Consequently, findings show that The Brazilian Attitude Scale towards Distance Education (BrazilASTDE) is a valid and reliable instrument.

To investigate whether the type of keyboard used in exams introduces any construct-irrelevant variance to the TOEFL iBT Writing scores, we surveyed 17,040 TOEFL iBT examinees from 24 countries on their keyboard-related perceptions and preferences and analyzed the survey responses together with their test scores. Results suggest that controlling for their TOEFL iBT Reading, Listening, and Speaking scores, examinees' Writing scores were statistically significantly associated with examinees' prior awareness of the TOEFL iBT keyboard policy, the type of keyboard they used during the test, or examines' perceptions of the type of keyboard used. However, the score differences associated with these factors were negligible, supporting the argument that the current practice of mandatorily using the U.S. standard keyboard poses limited threat to the validity of test scores. Survey results also revealed that although most examinees considered the keyboard used during the test convenient and efficient, two-fifths of them reportedly preferred a more familiar local keyboard, which suggests room for improvement in the keyboard-related test-taking experience.

This study analyzed English language tests administered in Brazil as part of a university entrance examination, focusing on the authenticity of its tests of second language reading comprehension, the concept of reading as an interactive process between reader and text, a proficiency-based view of language instruction, and the psychometric properties of a good test. Two reading tests that explicitly favor authenticity and proficiency are analyzed in two sections. The first concentrates on the types of questions in both tests and the language skill levels that are tapped by each question, according to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines. The second part is a reliability study, in which the consistency of scores is statistically analyzed to determine the overall quality of the tests. The reliability test is also performed to verify the hypothesis that a shorter test is less reliable than a longer one. (Contains 25 references.) (Author/MSE)

This study presents evidence of the validity and reliability of scores for the newly developed Brazilian Portuguese version of the Delaware School Climate Survey-Student (Brazilian DSCS-S). The sample consisted of 378 students, grades 5 through 9, attending four private and three public schools in southern Brazil. Confirmatory factor analyses supported both a bifactor model and a six-factor model, but support was stronger for the latter. Most scores across factors correlated significantly with students' self-reported cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement in school. As discussed, the Brazilian DSCS-S provides schools with a useful tool for conducting needs assessments and evaluating programs in Brazilian schools.

This study reports on the construction of a questionnaire to assess ninth-grade students' use of self-regulated strategies for school writing tasks. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted to validate the factor structure of the instrument. The initial factor analytic stage (n = 296) revealed a 13-factor scale, accounting for 61.35% of the variance. Cross-cultural validation was carried out involving Portuguese and Brazilian students (n = 732). Multi-group analyses of invariance were performed on the two samples. Results support a theoretically driven second-order model assessing 12 self-regulated strategies for writing. Full configural and metric invariance were established, suggesting that the 34-item measure may be robust to assess the model under investigation across cultures. Findings suggest that the instrument can be a valid theory-based assessment tool to help researchers and practitioners examine how students in transition to high school initiate and control their school writing tasks.

Advances in technology have increased the likelihood that engineers will have to work in a global, culturally diverse setting. Many schools of engineering are currently revising their curricula to help students to develop cultural competence. However, our ability to measure cultural dispositions can be a challenge. The purpose of this project was to develop and test an instrument that measures the various aspects of cultural disposition. The results of the validation process verified that the hypothesised model adequately represented the data. The refined instrument produced a four-factor model for the overall construct. The validation process for the instrument verified the existence of specific subcomponents that form the overall cultural disposition construct. There also seems to be a hierarchical relationship within the subcomponents of cultural disposition. Additional research is needed to explore which aspects of cultural disposition affect an individual's ability to work effectively in a culturally diverse engineering team.

The development and validation of the Brazilian Temperament Scale for Students (BTSS) are examined through the use of data from 1,258 children and adolescents, ages 10 through 21 (M = 15.0, SD = 2.1, 56% females). Three psychometric properties of BTSS are reported: its internal structure (e.g., validity), its reliability, and cut points to best distinguish between the bipolar styles for each of the scale's four constructs (extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling, and organized-flexible styles). Rasch analyses were used to estimate item intensity and students latent score parameters. The use of construct maps to help establish norms is described. The results of exploratory factor analysis using varimax rotation confirm the four scales' intended bipolar factors are composed of items that theoretically represent the desired constructs. The confirmatory factor analysis for a four-factor structure generally displays good fit indexes. Infit and outfit values reach acceptable ranges (i.e., from 0.68 to 1.32). Results are interpreted using cut points.

Previous studies indicate that a worldwide measurement tool may be developed based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for chronic conditions. The aim of the present study was to explore the possibility of constructing a cross-cultural measurement of functioning for patients with low back pain (LBP) on the basis of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for LBP and to evaluate the properties of the ICF Core Set. The Comprehensive ICF Core Set for LBP was scored by health professionals for 972 patients with LBP from 17 countries. Qualifier levels of the categories, invariance across age, sex and countries, construct validity and the ordering of the categories in the components of body function, body structure, activities and participation were explored by Rasch analysis. The item-trait chi[superscript 2]-statistics showed that the 53 categories in the ICF Core Set for LBP did not fit the Rasch model ("P" less than 0.001). The main challenge was the invariance in the responses according to country. Analysis of the four countries with the largest sample sizes indicated that the data from Germany fit the Rasch model, and the data from Norway, Serbia and Kuwait in terms of the components of body functions and activities and participation also fit the model. The component of body functions and activity and participation had a negative mean location, -2.19 (SD 1.19) and -2.98 (SD 1.07), respectively. The negative location indicates that the ICF Core Set reflects patients with a lower level of function than the present patient sample. The present results indicate that it may be possible to construct a clinical measure of function on the basis of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for LBP by calculating country-specific scores before pooling the data.

The objective of this study was to adapt and gather validity evidence for a Brazilian sample version of the Hope Index and to verify if cultural differences would produce different results than those found in the United States. In this study, we present a set of analyses that together comprise a comprehensive validity argument for the use of a test in a new language or culture. Participants were 844 undergraduate Brazilian students (mean age 21.3 years). A content validity study suggested that new items could be added to the scale. Factor analyses extracted two factors replicating the original instrument structure. The internal consistency was adequate with and without the added items. The results illustrate how different validation procedures can be used to support the use of an adapted version of a test, suggesting that in Brazil, researchers may choose the original adapted version (16 items) or the more "emic" version (21 items) depending on the objectives of their study. The indication that the Hope Index is valid in a Brazilian sample strengthens the idea that this construct may be universal. The results also stress the importance of conducting content validity studies as part of a cross-cultural adaptation of a test. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale--Brazilian Form (CAASBrazil) consists of four scales which measure concern, control, curiosity, and confidence as psychosocial resources for managing occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. Internal consistency estimates for the subscale and total scores ranged from good to excellent. The factor structure was quite similar to the one computed for combined data from 13 countries. CAASBrazil is similar to the International Form, with the exception of two items that were not included in Brazilian version. Concurrent validity evidence was collected relative to personality factors from the Five-Factor Model of Personality. The relationships between career adaptability and personality factors were as predicted. (Contains 2 tables.)

The aim of this paper was to validate the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), presenting evidence of its reliability and construct and criterion-related validity. A large Brazilian sample (2,180 participants), from five different populations (undergraduate and high school students, general population, elementary school teachers, and physicians), was considered. The results confirmed the single factorial structure and reliability (0.77 less than Cronbach's alpha less than 0.88, mean alpha = 0.81) of the SWLS. Supporting its criterion-related validity, the SWLS correlated positively with positive affect and negatively with both negative affect and psychological distress across all five samples. The findings indicate that the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the SWLS is a valid instrument to use with diverse Brazilian samples.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the invariance of an oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-hyperactivity/impulsivity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention, and an Academic Competence factor model between mothers' and fathers' ratings within Brazilian (n = 894), Thai (n = 2,075), and American (n = 817) children with the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory (G. L. Burns, T. Taylor, & J. Rusby, 2001a, 2001b). The results showed invariance of item loadings, intercepts, and residuals, as well as factor variances, covariances, and means between mothers' and fathers' ratings within each sample. Convergent and discriminant validity was also observed for the between-parent factor correlations, thus providing additional support for the construct validity of the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory. The confirmatory factor analysis invariance procedure provides a much better way to examine between-source ratings of behavior problems in children than do the simple correlation and raw discrepancy score procedures. (Contains 1 figure and 7 tables.)

Tested validity of the Portuguese version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation questionnaire. Found results similar to original French-Canadian instrument in stability, internal consistency, and factorial structure. Found associations between teacher's description of social competence and behavioral difficulties in Brazilian preschoolers, and parenting stress, family income, and cognitive measures. (DLH)