Can Community and School-Based Supports Improve the Achievement of First-Generation Immigrant Children Attending High-Poverty Schools?

Using a quasi-experimental design, the effects of a student support intervention were estimated for the math and reading achievement of first-generation immigrant children (n = 667, M = 11.05 years of age) attending high-poverty, urban elementary schools. The intervention was designed to help schools identify developmental strengths and barriers to learning and, in turn, connect children to community and school supports aligned with their strengths and needs.

Development and initial validation of a self-scored COPD Population Screener Questionnaire (COPD-PS).

COPD has a profound impact on daily life, yet remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. We set out to develop a brief, reliable, self-scored questionnaire to identify individuals likely to have COPD. COPD-PS development began with a list of concepts identified for inclusion using expert opinion from a clinician working group comprised of pulmonologists (n = 5) and primary care clinicians (n = 5).

IRT health outcomes data analysis project: an overview and summary.

Background: In June 2004, the National Cancer Institute and the Drug Information Association co-sponsored the conference, "Improving the Measurement of Health Outcomes through the Applications of Item Response Theory (IRT) Modeling: Exploration of Item Banks and Computer-Adaptive Assessment." A component of the conference was presentation of a psychometric and content analysis of a secondary dataset.

Objectives: A thorough psychometric and content analysis was conducted of two primary domains within a cancer health-related quality of life (HRQOL) dataset.

Assessing mobility in children using a computer adaptive testing version of the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory.

Objective: To assess score agreement, validity, precision, and response burden of a prototype computerized adaptive testing (CAT) version of the Mobility Functional Skills Scale (Mob-CAT) of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) as compared with the full 59-item version (Mob-59).

Design: Computer simulation analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal retrospective data; and cross-sectional prospective study.

Setting: Pediatric rehabilitation hospital, including inpatient acute rehabilitation, day school program, outpatient clinics, community-based day care, preschool, and children's homes.

Comparison of Rasch and summated rating scales constructed from SF-36 physical functioning items in seven countries: results from the IQOLA Project. International Quality of Life Assessment.

Rasch models for polytomous items were used to assess the scaling assumptions and compare item response patterns in the 10-item SF-36 physical functioning scale (PF-10) for general population respondents in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Rasch model of physical functioning developed in the United States was compared to models for other countries, and each country was compared to a multinational composite. Strong scale congruence across the seven countries was demonstrated; items that varied between countries and from the composite may reflect unique cultural response patterns or differences in translation.