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This paper presents a reliable tool for measuring transformative learning in undergraduate social work education, the Social Work Transformation Survey (SWTS). The SWTS was developed from a qualitative theoretical model and translated into quantitative scales. The study collected data from 248 undergraduate students from eight countries who participated in a transnational project using creative journaling to facilitate transformative learning. Structural equation modelling was used to validate the internal structure of the SWTS. We then confirmed the measures' reliability, and subsequently the effectiveness of creative journaling practices as a pedagogy for facilitating transformative learning in social work students. This paper highlights the potential of combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches to develop educational evaluation tools for higher education settings and presents one specific measure for transformative learning.

Applying a measurement instrument developed in a specific country to other countries raise a critical and important question of interest in especially cross-cultural studies. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is the most preferred and used method to examine the cross-cultural applicability of measurement tools. Although CFA is a sophisticated technique to investigate various equivalence types (structural, metric, scalar and alike.), it has some limitations. In light of the classical test theory, when a measurement tool is not invariant between countries, what factors contribute to the error variance become unclear. Also, CFA reveals little as to how dimensionality of the relevant measurement tool affects measurement invariance. Hence, a fundamental focus of this study is to examine the measurement comparability or cross-cultural applicability for different countries on an international assessment using generalizability theory (G-theory) in educational science studies. With multi-faceted design, the contribution of dimensionality to error variance is examined, as well. For illustration purposes, eight scales from PISA 2012 student questionnaire dataset related to attitudes towards mathematics are used. The study is based on data from Türkiye, Finland and USA. The unbalanced multi-faceted designs are performed using G String IV. In conclusion, almost all results supported all research expectations. From the estimations of the G-theory, it can be rightly deduced cross-nationally applicability of the attitudes towards mathematics scales from these research findings.

This study aimed to expand the psychometric properties of the Theory Evaluation Scale (TES), specifically its structure, construct validity, and internal consistency. A demographically diverse sample of 113 social work faculty (N = 113) utilized the TES to appraise a social work theory and their responses were used for exploratory factor analysis purposes (EFA). Results showed that the TES (1) is a two-factor scale with both a positivist component and a constructivist component (dimensionality), (2) is a one-construct measure (construct validity), and (3) has internal consistency (reliability). These results, therefore, lend psychometric credence to the TES, which is purported to enable the analysis of theories in social work, including the ones informed by the mixed-methods research design.

This study conducted a psychometric examination into the application of positive behavior support (PBS) principles, focusing on how its trajectory differs between Taiwan and the United States. Eighteen items from the Beliefs about Behavior Survey were adapted to gauge educators' perception of implementing PBS strategies within different cultural contexts. The sample comprised 643 educators, split between northern Taiwan (N = 267) and a mid-mountain region in the United States (N = 376). Results from the confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the previously identified four-factor model determined using a US sample presents a satisfactory fit with the Taiwanese data set. Furthermore, reliability estimates vouch for the internal consistency of the model. Interestingly, it was observed that general education teachers reported the least supportive beliefs across all four factors, relative to their colleagues. In a direct comparison with the US sample, the Taiwanese respondents scored significantly lower on two out of the four PBS belief factors. This trend could be attributed to a relative scarcity of exposure to, and training in, PBS principles in Taiwan, particularly beyond tertiary remedial services. The revised survey questionnaire presents a useful tool for informing the design of professional development initiatives and system-wide changes in Taiwanese schools. The study concludes with a discussion on the impact of differing cultural contexts and the potential directions for future research.

I present a new model of the self-regulation of virtue that integrates perspectives on emotion, cognition, and motivation. Across three vignette-based studies in US/UK (N = 1,540), I developed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis a multi-item measure of broadening and defensive responses, the Self-Regulation of Virtue Inventory (SRVI). I applied that measurement model to two new scenarios portraying prototypical moral exemplars (selected from a set of 12) and fitted structural models that identify key antecedents: motivational dispositions (regulatory focus and hedonic orientation) and moral comparisons (opinion- and ability-based). The findings were consistent with network analysis, providing initial evidence of their robustness. By integrating literatures on motivation, emotion, social cognition and comparison within a self-regulation framework, I provide initial evidence to advance theory on moral self-regulation and moral education, with practical implications on how to maximise the upsides of virtue while mitigating or channelling its possible drawbacks.

This study aimed to translate the Japanese version of the Life Skills Scale for Adolescents and Adults (LSSAA) into Chinese, English, and Korean, simplify it, and assess its reliability and validity. Validation was performed using individual data of 9941 high-school students from China, Japan, Korea, and the United States collected by the 2021 "Survey on Experiences and Attitudes Related to the Corona Crisis" conducted by the National Institution For Youth Education. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-factor model of the LSSAA fit the data for all four countries. Testing of the measurement invariance of the four-factor model among the four countries supported the adoption of a weak invariance model, and the LSSAA scores were comparable across all four countries. These results suggest that the LSSAA has good reliability and validity and applies to adolescents in English-speaking countries and some Asian counties.

Most current autism research focuses on Western countries, where service availability and cultural experiences differ from those of individuals living in Asian countries, where collectivistic cultural values prevail and understanding of autism is emerging. By gathering data from Vietnamese parents of autistic children (N = 339), the current measurement study examined measure variance and invariance between the English version of the "Illness Perception Questionnaire--Revised for Autism Spectrum Disorder" (IPQ-R-ASD) and a Vietnamese translation of it, at the item, scalar, and factor levels. Results indicated measurement variance for only three of 37 items and highlighted different perceptions of autism between Vietnamese and North American parents, based on responses to the IPQ-R-ASD. Responses indicated that Vietnamese parents may have a different interpretation of the questions. Seven factors emerged on both the Vietnamese and English instruments, but items loaded differently, and a distinct factor emerged on the Vietnamese version. In sum, the current findings suggest that the IPQ-R-ASD can be useful for better understanding Vietnamese parents' perceptions of their children's autism, but the interpretation is somewhat different than on the English version, highlighting the importance of cross-cultural considerations in the study of autism in Western versus Eastern cultures.

Endeavors supporting college students' positive psychosocial development are gaining attention and investment in various countries and social contexts. Higher education experiences provide new academic, social, and vocational advancement opportunities at a critical developmental stage. However, higher education can also cause distress due to the challenges and stressors present during this new stage of increased independence. The Social Emotional Health Survey-Higher Education (SEHS-HE) assesses the core psychosocial strengths of individuals transitioning from secondary schools into institutions of higher education (IHE) to aid campus student support services. The present study sought to extend the SEHS-HE research by examining its application with college student samples from Mexico (n = 4,207), United States (n = 1,638), and Spain (n = 1,734). Confirmatory factor analyses investigated the hypothesized SEHS-HE higher-order factor model. The Mexico sample returned an acceptable model fit, but the USA and Spain samples had a suboptimal fit; hence, we explored alternative models. A two-level structure had full invariance for all three samples. This study extends the current scholarship on the conceptual model and psychometric properties of SEHS-HE. The discussion focuses on implications for future research to enhance SEHS-HE in national and cross-national research and practice.

Studies aiming to make cross-cultural comparisons first should establish measurement invariance in the groups to be compared because results obtained from such comparisons may be artificial in the event that measurement invariance cannot be established. The purpose of this study is to investigate the measurement invariance of the data obtained from the "Mathematics Liking Scale" in TIMSS 2015through Multiple Group CFA, Multiple Group LCA and Mixed Rasch Model, which are based on different theoretical foundations and to compare the obtained results. To this end, TIMSS 2015 data for students in the USA and Canada, who speak the same language and data for students in the USA and Turkey, who speak different languages, are used. The study is conducted through a descriptive study approach. The study revealed that all measurement invariance levels were established in Multiple Group CFA for the USA-Canada comparison. In Multiple Group LCA, on the other hand, measurement invariance was established up to partial homogeneity. However, it was not established in the Mixed Rasch Model. As for the USA-Turkey comparison, metric invariance was established in Multiple Group CFA whereas in Multiple Group LCA it stopped at the heterogeneity level. Measurement invariance for data failed to be established for the relevant sample in the Mixed Rasch Model. The foregoing findings suggest that methods with different theoretical foundations yield different measurement invariance results. In this regard, when deciding on the method to be used in measurement invariance studies, it is recommended to examine the necessary assumptions and consider the variable structure.

This article describes a factor analytic study designed to identify the underlying dimensions of school-based counseling practice that will be useful in describing cross-national differences in school-based counseling practice and in enabling comparative research on school-based counseling policy and effectiveness. Practicing school-based counselors (N = 2913) from 10 countries (China, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, South Korea, Malta, Nigeria, Turkey, the United States, and Venezuela) used the International Survey of School-Based Counseling Activities (ISSCA) to rate the centrality of 40 activities to the role of a school-based counselor. Factor analysis determined that five dimensions adequately described the school-based counselor role: Counseling Services; Advocacy and Systemic Improvement; Prevention Programs; Administrator Role; and Educational and Career Planning. Analysis of Bartlett Factor Score averages revealed that each country demonstrates a unique profile which reflects that country's dominant mode of practice. This lead article describes these dimensions and the cross-national differences on these dimensions. Subsequent articles in this special issue describe country-specific results and explain factors that affect practice within each country.

Academic self-efficacy (ASE) refers to a student's global belief in his/her ability to master the various academic challenges at university and is an essential antecedent of wellbeing and performance. The five-item General Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (GASE) showed promise as a short and concise measure for overall ASE. However, of its validity and reliability outside of Scandinavia is limited. Therefore, this paper aimed to investigate the psychometric properties, longitudinal invariance, and criterion validity of the GASE within a sample of university students (Time 1: n = 1056 & Time 2: n = 592) in the USA and Western Europe. The results showed that a unidimensional factorial model of overall ASE fitted the data well was reliable and invariant across time. Further, criterion validity was established by finding a positive relationship with task performance at different time stamps. Therefore, the GASE can be used as a valid and reliable measure for general ASE.

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable "Environmental Attitude Scale" (EAS) for secondary school (5th, 8th grade), high school (11th) and undergraduate college students. The reliability and validity studies of the scale were carried out in three different countries (Finland, USA and Turkey). The sampling size was 1687 students. For the construct validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was run and in order to test the accuracy of the obtained factor structure. The scale was composed of three sub scales: "Environmental Behaviour Sub Scale (EBSS)", "Environmental Opinion Sub Scale (EOSS)" and "Environmental Emotion Sub Scale (EESS)". The EBSS and EESS consist of two factors each and the EOSS consists of one factor. The EBSS had 13 items, EOSS 11 items and EESS 16 items, all using a 5- point Likert scale. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the whole scale was found to be a=.94, and reliability coefficient of the first subscale was found to be a=0.91, second subscale a=.82 and third subscale a=0.94 and the Spearman Brown coefficients were found to be .85, .83, .80 and .85, respectively. Reliability and validity results of the study show that the "Environmental Attitude Scale" can be used to measure the environmental attitudes of the different levels of students.

Invariance testing and correlational analyses were conducted on a new test anxiety questionnaire, the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students (TAM-C), with 1.050 Australian and U.S. higher education students. The samples were administered the TAM-C along with other questionnaires. Results from the aforementioned analyses supported a modified six-factor structure for Australian students, U.S. students, males, and females and strong invariance across countries and across genders. Latent mean factor analyses found differences across countries and across genders on the questionnaire and validity evidence for the TAM-C scores in the Australian and U.S. student samples were found. Implications of the findings for counselors and researchers who work with Australian and U.S. undergraduates are discussed.

The current study aimed to adopt and assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Grit-S among Omani and American students (N = 487) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale's construct validity was estimated by investigating its associations with achievement goal orientations (AGOs). EFA results suggested that a two-factor solution (i.e., perseverance of effort [G_PE] and consistency of interest [G_CI]) was the best factorial structure, explaining 47.74% and 51.02% of the variance in the Omani and American samples, respectively. The factors had good reliability coefficients in the two samples. Related to the intercultural differences, G_PE explained more variance among Omanis (31.02%) relative to American sample, whereas G_CI explained a larger proportion of variance among Americans (36.86%) compared with Omani sample. The first level of measurement invariance, configural invariance, was not supported, necessitating the investigation of the other levels of measurement invariance using a new sample. Grit correlated positively with mastery and performance-approach goals (r = 0.29 and 0.12, respectively) and negatively with avoidance goals (r = -0.25), supporting the scale's construct validity. These findings showed that Grit-S scale can be used as valid and reliable assessment tool to assess student interest and perseverance in the academic context in Arabic/Omani and American cultures.

The Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale has been used for more than 20 years to measure students' sense of school belonging, yet its psychometric properties have had limited examination with pre-adolescent children. This study investigated the utility and psychometrics of the PSSM in three primary school samples from the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Exploratory factor analysis revealed good fit for a unidimensional factor structure in the US sample, which was subsequently confirmed in all three samples. Partial invariance across all three samples and full invariance across pairwise samples (United States and United Kingdom; United Kingdom and China) was found. Path analyses revealed significant positive relations of the PSSM total belonging score with gratitude and prosocial behavior, and significant negative relations with symptoms of distress. Future directions and implications are discussed. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED588824.]

According to PISA 2012, mathematics self-beliefs involve three dimensions: mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety. This study utilized the multiple indicators, multiple causes (MIMIC) method, an approach for detecting whether there is a lack of measurement invariance or differential item functioning (DIF), to deal with multiple covariates, multiple dimensions, and ordered categorical variables with threshold structures to study DIF among mathematics self-beliefs items across Shanghai-China (N = 5177) and the USA (N = 4978) from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. The MIMIC approach with mediators was also applied in the study, which helped to detect variables that could account for meaningful partial or complete DIF effects. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), a statistic method that can verify the number of latent traits of the dataset, indicated that the three-factor structure worked for the data. Both robust weighted least square (WLSMV) estimator and robust maximum likelihood (MLR) estimator were used in the parameter estimation to identify items with DIF and quantify the DIF effect size. It was found in the study with MIMIC method that in-school mathematics class periods and out-of-school study hours in PISA 2012 had partial effects on most items with meaningful DIF effects.

Although previous research showed that discrete social-emotional skills such as empathy, motivation, and social relationships in school significantly predict achievement, students tend to use various social-emotional skills in combination. As such previous investigations cannot comment on how different combinations or profiles of students' social-emotional skills predict achievement relative to discrete skills. Likewise, little is known about cross-national comparisons of social-emotional skill profiles (SESP), and the extent to which SESP differ on their academic achievement. The purposes of this study were three-folded: 1) to determine whether a four-factor social-emotional skills model could be used for cross-national comparisons; 2) to identify social-emotional profiles in 15-year-old students from four different countries -- Canada, the United States, China, and Singapore; and 3) to evaluate how different profiles predict students' reading, maths, and collaborative problem-solving (CPS) test scores. Our results showed multigroup measurement invariant in the structure, loadings, and thresholds of the four-factor social-emotional skills model. We identified three profiles labelled Sociable, Reserved and Withdrawn in Canada, Singapore, and the United States; whereas, we found three profiles labelled Solitary, Team-oriented, and Reserved in students in China. Finally, the way each profile associated with reading, maths and CPS in each country appeared to align with the cultural expectations of learning.

The current study sought to evaluate the SASTSc in two samples of students taking a statistics course that incorporates statistical software. The SASTSc was given at two time points, once at the beginning of the semester and then again at the end of the semester. Our evaluation included examining competing factor analytic models, examining convergent validity, test-retest reliability, and assessing internal consistency. Our results in both samples replicate the scale's proposed factor structure; however, not all items were useful and we propose some changes to the wording of items to improve the scale.

An online survey of 374 US college students was conducted in April, 2015 to examine whether and how subjective norm, direct and indirect experiences related to China, their perceptions of China (China's country reputation), and media coverage of China influence their interests of studying in China. Statistical results show that their subjective norm, China's reputation, and media coverage of China positively predicted their attitudes toward studying in China (R[superscript 2] = 51.5), whereas their intent to study in China (R[superscript 2] = 35.2) was determined by their attitudes, subjective norm, and China experiences. The study indicates that social influence or normative pressure is a much more important factor to shape their attitudes toward studying in China than their overall perceptions of China and media coverage of China. Social influence is also the second most significant predictor of their intent to study in China. The important theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Since 1978, when the first group of 50 mainland Chinese students came to the United States for education, increasing numbers of mainland Chinese students have come to the United States to get a degree (Lampton, Madancy & Williams, 1986). In 2009, China surpassed India, becoming the largest source country of international students in the United States, and since then, China has the most international students seeking education in the United States (Open Doors Data, 2015). The purpose of this Q methodology study is to explore personal perspectives of mainland Chinese students on the value of getting a degree in the United States. Data analysis grouped similar viewpoints. Based on data from ten mainland Chinese students, we categorized three different groups of mainland Chinese students: job and education group, education group, and migration group.

A 21st-century challenge for educators is to promote meaningful engagement in online courses, and student development of critical thinking skills is an essential aspect of higher order learning. Evaluation of critical thinking in online discussions is often facilitated by the use of rubrics; however, it is not unusual for rubrics to either omit critical thinking as a component of the rubric or to reference it in a vague way. For the purposes of this study, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from faculty to identify their attitudes about critical thinking attributes as performance measures for evaluation rubrics. Factor analysis revealed that the response patterns clustered for each factor represented the themes (1) "demonstrates logic and reasoning" (described as offering accurate supporting evidence and strategies and solutions); and (2) "creative critical thought processes" (described as novel perceptions, bias refutation, and alternative-seeking). From this study, we would suggest that faculty should use an evaluation rubric that encompasses these two dimensions.

This study validates Shane et al.'s Entrepreneurial Career Motives Scale across nations. A total sample of 948 undergraduate and postgraduate students from five nations (China = 229, Hong Kong = 213, Holland = 136, United States = 155, and Ghana = 215) were recruited to complete a survey designed to measure their entrepreneurial motives and other related constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized four-factor structure, namely, "perceived recognition," "sense of independence," "pursuit of learning," and "perceived roles." Results of the measurement invariance comparisons satisfactorily established measurement equivalence of the scale across nations, language versions, and genders. Both convergent and discriminant validities were established as the motives were associated with different constructs in an expected manner. Interestingly, different patterns in the entrepreneurial career motives emerged across nations. Overall, our findings provide support for the construct validity of the Entrepreneurial Motives Scale. Implications for practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this research was to develop and test an instrument to measure school leaders' use of Twitter for professional development (PD) and learning. Findings from an exploratory factor analysis indicate that the resulting nine-item Twitter for PD Scale offers a valid and reliable instrument to measure school leaders' use of Twitter for PD and learning. Researchers and practitioners can use the Twitter for PD Scale to measure the influence of Twitter-delivered PD on various educational outcomes.

This article demonstrates the use of structural equation modeling to develop norms for a translated version of a standardized scale, the Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version (SIS-C). The latent variable norming method proposed is useful when the standardization sample for a translated version is relatively small to derive norms independently but the original standardization sample is larger and more robust. Specifically, we leveraged a large, representative US standardization sample (n = 4,015) to add power and stability to a smaller Spanish (n = 405) standardization sample. Using a series of multiple-group mean and covariance structures confirmatory factor analyses using effects-coded scaling constraints, measurement invariance was tested across (a) Spanish only and (b) both US and Spanish age bands (5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-16). After establishing measurement invariance across the US and Spain, tests for latent means and variance differences within age-bands were only performed for Spanish data; the latent means and variances in the US sample were freely estimated. The study findings suggest that the information in the US data stabilized the overall model parameters, and the inclusion of the US sample did not influence on the norms of the SIS-C Spanish Translation.

Using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 eighth-grade international dataset, this study explored the profiles of instructional practices reported by high- and low-performing mathematics teachers across the US, Finland, Korea, and Russia. Concepts of conceptual teaching and procedural teaching were used to frame the design of the current study. Latent cluster analysis was applied in the investigation of the profiles of mathematics teachers' instructional practices across the four education systems. It was found that all mathematics teachers in the high- and low-performing groups used procedurally as well as conceptually oriented practices in their teaching. However, one group of high-performing mathematics teachers from the U.S. sample and all the high-performing teachers from Finland, Korea, and Russia showed more frequent use of conceptually oriented practices than their corresponding low-performing teachers. Another group of U.S. high-performing mathematics teachers showed a distinctive procedurally oriented pattern, which presented a rather different picture. Such results provide useful suggestions for practitioners and policy makers in their effort to improve mathematics teaching and learning in the US and in other countries as well.

This study presents the Revised Arabic Schwartz Outcome Scale-10 (Blais et al., 1999). Data collected from Arabic and English speakers residing in the United States (n = 152) and international Arabic speakers (n = 423) provided robust psychometric support for the instrument's use to measure Arabic speakers' mental health outcomes.

In this study, different factor analysis models were employed to test the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) in 11 distinct populations (n = 15,266) in different countries. The results strongly suggest that the most appropriate use of the SCS is to measure levels of Self-Compassionate responding (positive items) and Self-Uncompassionate responding (negative items) separately.

Introduction: The prevalence rates of bullying vary significantly across countries and continents. Specifically, UNESCO estimates that the prevalence rates vary from 22.8% (CentralAmerica) to 48.2% (Sub-Saharan Africa). Recently these differences among countries andregions have been attributed to culture- and country-level variables. Thus, the first purpose ofthis study is to examine the comparability of bullying in schools across countries. Secondly, across-cultural comparison of the latent mean scores of bullying is implemented. Method: The data of 286,481 adolescent students (M=15.78, SD=0.29) from 32 countrieswere analyzed using multilevel confirmatory factor analyses (MLCFA) and multigroup factoralignment. Results: Results indicated that the meaning of bullying is equivalent within and between cultures. However, cross-cultural differences in bullying are apparent. East Asian countries havethe lowest latent means of bullying, while Southeast Asian countries have the highest means.Anglo-Saxon, Eastern European, Mediterranean, South American, and Middle East countriesdisplayed rather higher scores. Discussion and Conclusion: These findings underscore the existence of cross-cultural differential responding in bullying measures. Further, the implicit role of culture as an importantvariable that determines the rates of bullying is underscored.

Community of inquiry (CoI) is the conceptual framework which describes critical prerequisite factors for deep and meaningful learning in online learning environments. Based on the literature concerning the CoI framework, it can be observed that studies in which three factors in the model (cognitive, social and teaching presence) were investigated have been increased as scales to determine perception towards CoI have been developed, which thus made it possible to work on relatively larger sampling groups effectively and to increase generalizability of findings. In this context, within the scope of the present research, by investigating different data collection tools developed by different researchers, studies aiming to determine CoI perception by means of a scale were investigated in detail. Research results reveals that the CoI survey instrument developed by Arbaugh et al. (2008) has been widely accepted in the literature; and that the instrument has been adapted to number of languages such as Turkish, Korean and Arabic; and employed in diverse disciplines such as education, business and health care.

In this project, the authors used the Essential Behavioral Leadership Qualities (EBLQ) method of measuring leadership effectiveness to assess and compare the effectiveness of principals (leaders) of residential schools for children with blindness or low vision in the United States (U.S.) and Nigeria. A total of 248 teachers (subordinates) in 25 schools in the U.S. and 271 teachers in 22 schools in Nigeria, assessed their principals against the qualities they (teachers) perceived to be essential for effective leadership in their respective countries. Differences found in perceived EBLQ items for leadership effectiveness in both countries demonstrated support for both the trans-cultural and culture-specific perspectives of leadership effectiveness. The outcomes in both countries indicated that the principals could derive a "coaching" effect from the two studies regarding the efforts needed to improve their leadership styles to achieve congruence between essentiality and effectiveness.

The purpose of the study was to use model-based clustering to identify adolescent time attitude profiles in a sample of students from an urban high school using Adolescent Time Inventory-Time Attitude (ATI-TA) scores and to examine the association of ATI-TA profiles with demographic variables and grade point average (GPA). Three ATI-TA profiles were identified--Positives, Ambivalent, and Conflicted--two of which were similar to clusters identified in previous studies. Results indicated that gender and grade were not associated with cluster membership. However, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and GPA were related to cluster membership. Although overall effect sizes for socioeconomic status and ethnicity were small, post-hoc analyses suggested that differences among ethnic groups should be investigated further. There were substantial GPA differences between some clusters (Cohen's d = 0.36 - 1.27). Future directions for research on adolescent time attitude profiles should include in-depth studies examining the relationship between profile membership and achievement and longitudinal studies to observe whether time attitude profile membership changes over time.

Problem Statement: Student achievement is considered an indicator of the quality of education, and achievement tests are applied to assess student achievement. International tests are adapted into different languages and cultures with the aim of assessing student achievement on an international level and comparing the achievements of different countries. In our country, a number of tests at the national and international levels are conducted to assess student achievement. One of the tests conducted in our country is called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Countries structure their curricula and education policies based on the results of these studies. However, in order for these comparisons to be meaningful, the constructs measured by the tests should be equivalent. When the relevant literature was examined, it was observed that the number of studies on cross- cultural invariance in Turkey was low and that these studies did not involve TIMSS 2011. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of TIMSS 2011 mathematics test in terms of different cultures. Method: Aiming at examining the intercultural measurement invariance of the TIMSS 2011 mathematics test, this is a survey model that tries to describe an existing situation as it is. The study sample was composed of 1,987 fourth graders from Turkey, England, Japan and the USA. This study was conducted on the data obtained from the TIMSS 2011 mathematics test. Model invariance was examined through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. LISREL 8.80 for Windows software was used for performance of data analysis. Findings and Results: The study of measurement invariance was conducted in four steps. It was found that the proposed model was confirmed for all countries, and configural invariance was ensured in the first step, while metric invariance was not ensured in the second step. Therefore, we did not start the scalar invariance or strict invariance analyses. After this step, metric invariance was tested through binary and trilateral combinations in order to determine in which country the invariance was collapsed. It was found that the reason why the metric invariance wasn't ensured was that it was not sourced from only one country. Conclusions and Recommendations: According to the findings, the invariance across four countries was ensured only in the configural invariance step. Therefore, the items causing the model not to have measurement invariance can be determined, as well as whether the items demonstrated DIF across groups. The items determined to demonstrate DIF can be examined in terms of bias of sources, depending on the expert opinions.

This comparative analysis applies a distributed leadership framework to data from teachers and leaders taking the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL). Because the policies educators in Denmark and the United States respond to in their daily practice are related through the transnational policy borrowing process, we are better able to understand how these policies impact educators in their respective countries by comparing their leadership practice through a shared lens: the CALL framework. In this exploratory analysis, we take a comparative perspective by asking: How does distributed leadership practice compare in the US and the Danish contexts of schooling? And: How do views on leadership practice vary according to professional roles in specific national and local (school) contexts? Our conceptual framework has three components: neoinstitutional theory, translation theory, and distributed leadership. We use multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and t-tests with SY2015-2016 CALL data to compare and contrast the pattern of leadership practices teachers and school leaders take-up in Danish and US schools. We found that the leadership practices aligned to a school-wide focus on learning are closely associated with the work of monitoring teaching and learning and building nested learning communities, particularly in the US context of schooling.

The purpose of this study is to examine relationships among the such variables as socioeconomic status, math self-efficacy, anxiety, and mathematics achievement using structural equation modeling. A sample group of 8,806 students from England, Greece, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the USA participated in the PISA 2012. To show how much variance on mathematics achievement can be attributed to the selected variables, separate structural equation modeling analyses were examined for each country. Next, multi-group structural equating modeling was determined to compare latent means. The results show that socioeconomic status has a significant effect on mathematics achievement. The relationship between socioeconomic status and mathematics achievement is highest in the Netherlands lowest in Hong Kong. For all six countries, the most important predictor of mathematics achievement is math self-efficacy. The relationship between math self-efficacy and mathematics achievement is highest for England. No statistically meaningful relationship between math anxiety and mathematics achievement is found for Hong Kong, England, or the Netherlands. A statistically meaningful relationship between math anxiety and mathematics achievement is observed in the countries that have low mathematics achievement; namely, Turkey, Greece, and the USA.

This paper presents a large scale study of online MLIS students (n = 910), who completed at least one online course and were enrolled in 36 of the 58 ALA-accredited MLIS programs in Canada and the United States. The results indicate that the typical student is female, White, lives in an urban setting, and is in her mid-30s. Online students were found to be quite diverse, with statistically significant differences in their preferences and satisfaction across five demographic variables: "age" (generational cohort)," "employment status," "urban status," "commute distance," and "program modality." Three motivations emerged: "accommodation," "predisposition," and "selectivity", which influenced the respondents to choose online learning. The prevalent issues online MLIS students experienced were a sense of isolation from peers and instructors, and a lack of professional development and networking opportunities with peers. The findings have implications for enhancing MLIS online education including marketing, course offerings, and student support services.

Problem Statement: Item bias occurs when individuals from different groups (different gender, cultural background, etc.) have different probabilities of responding correctly to a test item despite having the same skill levels. It is important that tests or items do not have bias in order to ensure the accuracy of decisions taken according to test scores. Thus, items should be tested for bias during the process of test development and adaptation. Items used in testing programs, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, whose results are inform educational policies throughout the participating countries, should be reviewed for bias. The study examines whether items of the 2006 PISA science literacy test, applied in Turkey, show bias. Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to analyze the measurement equality of the PISA science literacy test of 2006 in Turkish and American groups in terms of structural invariance and also determined whether the science literacy items show inter-cultural bias. Methods: The study included data for 15 year-old 757 Turkish and 856 American students. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine whether the PISA science literacy test was equivalent in measurement construct in both groups; multi group confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) was used to identify differences in the factor structure according to cultures. Item bias was detected via the Mantel-Haenszel (MH), Simultaneous Item Bias Test (SIBTEST) and Item Response Theory Likelihood- Ratio Analysis (IRT-LR) procedures. Findings and Results: : According to the MCFA results PISA 2006 science literacy test for both Turkish and American groups showed equivalent measurement construct. Moreover, the three analyses methods agreed at B and C levels for 15 items in the Turkish sample and 25 items in the American sample in terms of DIF. According to expert opinions, common sources for item bias were: familiarity with item content and differing skill levels between cultures. Conclusions and Recommendations: The 38 items that showed DIF by each of the three methods were accepted as having DIF. The findings of the present study, possible source of bias in the items will not change the average level of student performance in participating countries. However, it will be beneficial that the review of item content before test administration, in order to reduce the errors items with DIF across different language and cultural groups in international comparative studies.

This study describes the cross-cultural applicability of a multidimensional inventory of students' evaluation of critical thinking dispositions (California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory). The goal was to assess the cross-cultural psychometric equivalency of the CCTDI through testing measurement invariance across American and Turkish linguistic populations. Based on the data from 583 Turkish students and 448 American students from different teacher education programs, the translated Turkish version and the original English version of the CCTDI displayed positive psychometric properties, thus supporting the applicability of the CCTDI in a Turkish educational context with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.81 to 0.90 for the sub-scales of the CCTDI Turkish and ranging from 0.85 to 0.91 for the sub-scales of the CCTDI English. Results also supported high content validity across cultural versions of the inventory with minimum content validity indices of 0.81 and 0.97 for both the Turkish and American versions of the inventory, respectively. However, a cross-cultural comparison of the factorial structure produced a poor fit of the hypothesized multidimensional model of CCTDI to the combined sample. Further analysis, based on the modification indices, supported the use of a four-factor model with reduced items for cross-cultural comparative research studies. Reasons for poor model fit and non-invariance across cultural groups were elaborated.

Each year, World Vision and AusAID devote substantial resources to their educational programs. These initiatives include the production and dissemination of Global Education related instructional materials and the provision of professional learning for teachers. Given the substantial funds involved, it is important that we evaluate the effectiveness of such initiatives. Are they for example enhancing students' knowledge and understanding of global issues? Do they have a positive impact on attitudes and values of students? Do they enhance students' sense of self or personal identity? Do they make students more predisposed to support programs that seek to alleviate poverty in developing countries? And, do they promote active and informed global citizenship? The purpose of this study is to investigate how the study of Global Education impacts student knowledge, understanding, attitudes and values. The research reported here explores student attitudes and values using quantitative data extracted from a total of 521 pre- and post- questionnaires. The authors will discuss that, despite the anticipated positive effect of the Global Education program, the results revealed an element of intolerance in the students' responses.

This manuscript details the development and exploratory factor analysis of a United States' version of the "International Survey of School Counselors' Activities" (ISSCA-US), a 42-item instrument that identifies activities of school counselors. Responses were collected from 390 US school counselors. Separate EFAs were conducted for two distinct sections of the survey involving appropriateness of role activities and their actually being undertaken, both resulting in reliable 6-factor models.

The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS) measures general intelligence and its two main components, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, each comprising of two subtests. The RIAS has been recently standardized in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain. Using the standardization samples of the U.S. (n = 2,438), Danish (n = 983), German (n = 2,103), and Spanish (n = 1,933) versions of the RIAS, this study examined measurement invariance across these four language groups for a single-factor structure, an oblique two-factor structure with a verbal and nonverbal factor, and a bifactor structure with a general, a verbal, and a nonverbal factor. Single-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the oblique two-factor and bifactor structure for each language group but not the single-factor structure. The bifactor analysis revealed that the general factor accounted for the largest proportion of common variance in each language group, while the amount of variance accounted for by the two specific factors was small and their reliabilities low. Multiple-group CFA supported scalar invariance in both, the oblique two-factor and bifactor structure.

School climate is an important construct for guiding violence prevention efforts in U.S. schools, but there has been less consideration of this concept in its neighboring country Mexico, which has a higher prevalence of violence. The U.S. Department of Education outlined a three-domain conceptualization of school climate (i.e., safe and supportive schools model) that includes engagement, safety, and the school environment. To examine the applicability of this school climate model in Mexico, the present study tested its measurement invariance across middle school students in the United States (n = 15,099) and Mexico (n = 2,211). Findings supported full invariance for engagement and modified-safety scales indicating that factor loadings and intercepts contributed almost equally to factor means, and scale scores were comparable across groups. Partial invariance was found for the environment scales. Results of a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) consisting of all 13 school climate scales indicated significantly positive associations among all scales in the U.S. sample and among most scales in the Mexico sample. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Ocean Literacy movement began in the U.S. in the early 2000s, and has recently become an international effort. The focus on marine environmental issues and marine education is increasing, and yet it has been difficult to show progress of the ocean literacy movement, in part, because no widely adopted measurement tool exists. The International Ocean Literacy Survey (IOLS) aims to serve as a community-based measurement tool that allows the comparison of levels of ocean knowledge across time and location. The IOLS has already been subjected to two rounds of field testing. The results from the second testing, presented in this paper, provide evidence that the IOLS is psychometrically valid and reliable, and has a single factor structure across 17 languages and 24 countries. The analyses have also guided the construction of a third improved version that will be further tested in 2018.

Research shows that innovation training can increase the number of innovative ideas that are proposed and successfully executed by an organization. Training satisfaction is also a strong predictor of the degree to which people use the knowledge they gain in training. To improve innovation training processes, therefore, it would be useful to have a theoretically sound, empirically validated instrument to measure innovation training satisfaction. We propose and validate such an instrument derived from the Yield Shift Theory of satisfaction in a field study of innovation training satisfaction in the U.S.A and China. The findings of the study demonstrated the convergent and discriminant validity of the instrument, and the results were consistent with the causal relationships proposed by the theory, suggesting that the theory may be a useful explanation for satisfaction effects and as a way to measure training satisfaction. We discuss the implications of the findings for research and practice.

In many public primary schools across different countries, generalist primary teachers are required to teach all subjects, including music, dance, drama and visual arts. This study investigates the background and confidence of preservice primary teachers from five countries in relation to drama and drama education. It also examines if there is a difference between the preservice teachers' perceptions of their own background and confidence in drama education in relation to each of the five countries (Australia, South Africa, Namibia, USA and Ireland). On investigating the differences between countries, there were significant statistical differences in the means of responses from preservice teachers from the different countries in relation to both background and confidence in drama education. The paper concludes with suggestions for teacher educators, given their students' weak background in drama education. (Contains 5 tables.)

Voice over Internet Protocol- (VoIP) enabled online learning service providers struggling with high attrition rates and low customer loyalty issues despite VoIP's high degree of system fit for online global learning applications. Effective solutions to this prevalent problem rely on the understanding of system quality, information quality, and individual beliefs about the usefulness of this technology. This research aims to provide insights into increasing the loyalty of users to VoIP-enabled global learning programs from the perspectives of information systems (IS) success and control belief. A theoretical model is proposed to integrate seven major constructs of IS success and planned behavior theory. We tested our model using the path analysis of data collected from an experiment where 66 undergraduate students from the USA and Taiwan worked in pairs using Skype to improve their English and intercultural communication skills. Data analysis results showed that information quality and perceived behavioral control are much more important than system quality in increasing satisfaction with the use of Skype. An increase in user satisfaction can lead to an improvement in intercultural communication competence and to increased user loyalty. Theoretical and practical implications are drawn from the findings to conclude this study.