Learning difficulties : a portuguese perspective of a universal issue

In this article we present findings of a study that was conducted with the purpose of deepening the knowledge about the field of learning difficulties in Portugal. Therefore, within these findings we will discuss across several cultural boundaries, themes related with the existence of learning difficulties as a construct, the terminology, the political, social and scientific influences on the field, and the models of identification and of ongoing school support for students. While addressing the above-mentioned themes we will draw attention to the different, yet converging, international understandings of learning difficulties

A physiological analysis of achievement goal orientations under pressure: An experimental analysis

The purpose of the present study was to compare and contrast goal orientations with regard to stress experienced under conditions of pressure. Participants were 54 college students who participated in the study in response to extra credit. The experimental manipulation involved solving a tangram puzzle within a specific, short time under pressure and under four goal conditions: mastery, performance-outcome, performance-ability, and performance-avoidance normative. Incidents of vasoconstriction defined by low levels in blood volume pulse were expressed as exceeding a 0.5 standard deviation from the grand mean as per Cohen’s conventions of a medium effect size. After fitting a cox regression model to the data, results indicated significant differences in the estimation of survival curves as a function of goal orientations with the pursuit of normative performance goals (outcome) and performance avoidance goals being associated with the most heightened incidents of stress. It is concluded that the fear that inspires people to avoid failure and an emphasis on performing under normative pressures are associated with heightened anxiety and self-regulation failure. © 2018, © 2018 International School Psychology Association

An R Function to Correct Fit Indices and Omnibus Tests in Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The present study describes an R function that implements six corrective procedures developed by Bartlett, Swain, and Yuan in the correction of 21 statistics associated with the omnibus Chi-square test, the residuals, or fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). © 2021 Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC)

Using the Omnibus Maximum Likelihood F-Test in Confirmatory Factor Analysis Using R

The utility of the maximum likelihood F-test was demonstrated as an alternative to the omnibus Chi-square test when evaluating model fit in confirmatory factor analysis with small samples, as it has been well documented that the likelihood ratio test (TML) with small samples is not Chi-square distributed. © 2021 Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling (AARC)

How do classroom goal structures matter? The impact on grammar achievement, perceived autonomy support, flow, and affect

This quasi-experimental study used a repeated measures design to examine the effects of three manipulated classroom goal structures (i.e. mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance) on grammar achievement, perceived autonomy support, flow experience, and affect for 49 Greek elementary school students (ages 11–12; 48% girls). Over a period of four weeks, all students participated in three grammar classes, each emphasizing a different goal structure. Results from multilevel modeling showed that students in mastery and performance-approach goal structures achieved higher grammar scores than they did in the performance-avoidance goal structure. Additionally, students in mastery goal structure experienced greater autonomy support, flow, and positive affect than they did in the performance-approach and performance-avoidance structure. The results have implications regarding teachers’ training since classroom practices are connected with achievement and students’ engagement. © 2019 International School Psychology Association

The impact of non-attempted and dually-attempted items on person abilities using item response theory

The purpose of the present study was to relate response strategy with person ability estimates. Two behavioral strategies were examined: (a) the strategy to skip items in order to save time on timed tests, and, (b) the strategy to select two responses on an item, with the hope that one of them may be considered correct. Participants were 4,422 individuals who were administered a standardized achievement measure related to math, biology, chemistry, and physics. In the present evaluation, only the physics subscale was employed. Two analyses were conducted: (a) a person-based one to identify differences between groups and potential correlates of those differences, and, (b) a measure-based analysis in order to identify the parts of the measure that were responsible for potential group differentiation. For (a) person abilities the 2-PL model was employed and later the 3-PL and 4-PL models in order to estimate upper and lower asymptotes of person abilities. For (b) differential item functioning, differential test functioning, and differential distractor functioning were investigated. Results indicated that there were significant differences between groups with completers having the highest ability compared to both non-attempters and dual responders. There were no significant differences between no-attempters and dual responders. The present findings have implications for response strategy efficacy and measure evaluation, revision, and construction. © 2016 Sideridis, Tsaousis and Al Harbi

Reading Achievement, Mastery, and Performance Goal Structures Among Students With Learning Disabilities: A Nonlinear Perspective

The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that a nonlinear relationship exists between a performance-classroom climate and the reading achievement of adolescent students with learning disabilities (LD). Participants were 62 students with LD (Grades 5–9) from public elementary schools in northern Greece. Classroom climate was assessed using the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Styles. Achievement in reading was assessed using a normative reading assessment. Data were analyzed by means of catastrophe theory in which the behavior is predicted as a function of two control variables, the asymmetry factor and the bifurcation factor. Reading achievement (word identification) was predicted by students’ ability to decode pseudowords (asymmetry variable) and by a mastery or performance motivational discourse (bifurcation factor). Results indicated that in classrooms with a performance goal structure, the cusp model fit the data and accounted for 54% of the variance in real word identification. In this condition, the association between pseudoword reading and real word reading was nonlinear. When a mastery climate was tested as a bifurcation variable, results indicated that its effect was nonsignificant and that instead the linear model fitted the data more adequately. Thus, increases in a classroom’s performance motivational discourse are associated with sudden, unpredictable, and discontinued changes in students’ reading performance. © 2015, © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2015

Measurement Invariance and Differential Item Functioning Across Gender Within a Latent Class Analysis Framework: Evidence From a High-Stakes Test for University Admission in Saudi Arabia

The main aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) using a latent class (LC) analysis approach. Particularly, we examined potential sources of DIF in relation to gender. Data came from 6,265 Saudi Arabia students, who completed a high-stakes standardized admission test for university entrance. The results from a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) revealed a three-class solution (i.e., high, average, and low scorers). Then, to better understand the nature of the emerging classes and the characteristics of the people who comprise them, we applied a new stepwise approach, using the Multiple Indicator Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model. The model identified both uniform and non-uniform DIF effects for several items across all scales of the test, although, for the majority of them, the DIF effect sizes were negligible. Findings from this study have important implications for both measurement quality and interpretation of the results. Particularly, results showed that gender is a potential source of DIF for latent class indicators; thus, it is important to include those direct effects in the latent class regression model, to obtain unbiased estimates not only for the measurement parameters but also of the structural parameters. Ignoring these effects might lead to misspecification of the latent classes in terms of both the size and the characteristics of each class, which in turn, could lead to misinterpretations of the obtained latent class results. Implications of the results for practice are discussed. © Copyright © 2020 Tsaousis, Sideridis and AlGhamdi

Applying a Multidimensional Item Response Theory Approach in Validating the Dimensionality of the Positive Youth Development Scale

Positive youth development has gained a lot of attention recently since it acts as a protective factor for several risk behaviors and other important life outcomes in adolescents and young adults. The main objective of this study was to explore the factorial structure of the Positive Youth Development Scale (PYDS) using multidimensional item response theory (MIRT). Three different models were examined: a unidimensional model, a multidimensional model with six distinct dimensions, and a multidimensional bifactor model, where each item was restricted to load simultaneously on a global positive development factor as well as a domain-specific one. Results indicated that the bifactor model provided superior model fit compared to the competing models, including a testlet and purified models. The study concludes with the advantages of MIRT models in dimensionality assessment and provides some suggestions for the improvement of the PYDS’ item characteristics. © The Author(s) 2021