Touchstones of Equivalence and the Houdini Transformation.

Inspired by Peter Molenaar's Houdini transformation, we consider the idea of touchstones between different models. Touchstones represent instances where models that appear different on the surface can have equivalent characteristics. Touchstones can appear as identical tests of model parameters. They can exist in the mean structure, in the covariance structure, or in both. In the latter case, the models will generate identical mean and covariance structures and will fit the data equally well. After showing some examples of touchstones and how they result from constraints on a general model, we show how that idea can suggest Molenaar's Houdini transformation. This transformation allows one to take a latent variable model and derive an equivalent model comprised solely of manifest (observed) variables. As equivalent models, the parameters of one can be transformed into the parameters of the other.

Development and initial validation of the Spanish form of the adjustment scales for preschool intervention (ASPI).

The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a Spanish language form of the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI) for use by early childhood teachers. A multi-step, mixed method adaptation and translation process of the English form was used to increase the cultural relevance, linguistic comparability, and metric equivalence of the measure in its Spanish language form. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in a diverse sample of preschool children from low-income families (N = 4077) revealed two higher order behavioral dimensions of Overactivity and Underactivity. ASPI dimension scores across Spanish and English language forms were horizontally equated through IRT. Criterion-related validity using multilevel models was established through concurrent associations with social, emotional, behavioral, and academic readiness skills. Policy and practice applications, and future directions for the use of scale scores are discussed.

Latent Growth Curve and Repeated Measures ANOVA Contrasts: What the Models are Telling You.

The relationship between the latent growth curve and repeated measures ANOVA models is often misunderstood. Although a number of investigators have looked into the similarities and differences among these models, a cursory reading of the literature can give the impression that they are very different models. Here we show that each model represents a set of contrasts on the occasion means. We demonstrate that the fixed effects parameters of the estimated basis vector latent growth curve model are merely a transformation of the repeated measures ANOVA fixed effects parameters. We further show that differences in fit in models that estimate the same means structure can be due to the different error covariance structures implied by the model. We show these relationships both algebraically and through using data from a simulation.

Latent national subpopulations of early education classroom disengagement of children from underresourced families.

This research examined the latent developmental patterns for early classroom disengagement among children from some of the most underresourced families in the nation. Based on standardized teacher observations from the Head Start Impact Study, a nationally representative sample of children (N=1377) was assessed for manifestations of reticent/withdrawn and low energy behavior over four years spanning prekindergarten through first grade. For each form of disengagement, latent growth mixture modeling revealed three distinct subpopulations of change patterns featuring a dominant class associated with generally good classroom adjustment, a medial class that varied close to the population average over time, and a more extreme class (about 10% of the population) whose adjustment was relatively marginal and sometimes reached problematic levels. Whereas reticent/withdrawn behavior ordinarily subsided over time, low energy behavior increased. More extreme low energy behaviors tended to dissipate through schooling and extreme reticence/withdrawal became more accentuated, with both types associated with later academic and social problems. Attendant risk and protective factors are identified and mitigating assessment and prevention measures are discussed.

Transition and protective agency of early childhood learning behaviors as portents of later school attendance and adjustment.

This article reports on the study of differential change trajectories for early childhood learning behaviors as they relate to future classroom adjustment and school attendance. A large sample (N=2152) of Head Start children was followed through prekindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade. Classroom learning behaviors were assessed twice each year by teachers who observed gradual declines in Competence Motivation and Attentional Persistence as children transitioned through schooling. Cross-classified multilevel growth models revealed distinct transitional pathways for future adjustment versus maladjustment and sporadic versus chronic absenteeism. Generalized multilevel logistic modeling and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses showed that teachers' earliest assessments were substantially predictive of eventual good classroom adjustment and school attendance, with increasing accuracy for prediction of future sociobehavioral adjustment as time progressed.

Whose IQ is it?--Assessor bias variance in high-stakes psychological assessment.

Assessor bias variance exists for a psychological measure when some appreciable portion of the score variation that is assumed to reflect examinees' individual differences (i.e., the relevant phenomena in most psychological assessments) instead reflects differences among the examiners who perform the assessment. Ordinary test reliability estimates and standard errors of measurement do not inherently encompass assessor bias variance. This article reports on the application of multilevel linear modeling to examine the presence and extent of assessor bias in the administration of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) for a sample of 2,783 children evaluated by 448 regional school psychologists for high-stakes special education classification purposes. It was found that nearly all WISC-IV scores conveyed significant and nontrivial amounts of variation that had nothing to do with children's actual individual differences and that the Full Scale IQ and Verbal Comprehension Index scores evidenced quite substantial assessor bias. Implications are explored.

Comparison of groups with different patterns of symptom cluster intensity across the breast cancer treatment trajectory.

BACKGROUND: Comparing subgroups with different patterns of change in symptom intensity would assist in sorting out individuals at risk for more severe symptoms and worse functional outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify and compare subgroups of breast cancer patients with different patterns of change in a psychoneurological symptom cluster intensity across the treatment trajectory. METHODS: This secondary analysis used the data from 160 breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Psychoneurological symptom cluster intensity was a composite score of 5 symptoms (depressed mood, cognitive disturbance, fatigue, insomnia, and pain) in a psychoneurological cluster at each of 3 time points (ie, at baseline and at 2 follow-ups after chemotherapy or radiation treatment). RESULTS: Five distinct subgroups representing different patterns of psychoneurological symptom cluster intensity during breast cancer treatment were identified: the gradually increasing pattern subgroup (group 1), the constantly low pattern subgroup (group 2), the start low with dramatic increase and decrease pattern subgroup (group 3), the constantly high pattern subgroup (group 4), and the start high with dramatic decrease and leveling pattern subgroup (group 5). Patients without previous cancer treatment experience, with higher level of education, treated with chemotherapy, and/or with more limitations at the baseline were more likely to follow the pattern group 4. Patients in group 4 had the most serious functional limitations measured at the second follow-up time point. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the need to evaluate interventions for specific subgroups and to examine the causal mechanisms underlying a psychoneurological symptom cluster. IMPLICATION: Clinicians should consider these diverse symptom experiences for assessment/management.

Longitudinal stability of IRT and equivalent-groups linear and equipercentile equating.

A multiscale criterion-referenced test that featured two presumably equivalent forms (A and B), was administered to 1,667 Head Start children at each of four points over an academic year. Using a randomly equivalent groups design, three equating methods were applied: common-item IRT equating using concurrent calibration, linear transformation, and equipercentile transformation. The methods were compared by examining mean score differences, weighted mean squared difference, and Kolmogorov's D statistics for each subscale. The results indicated that over time the IRT equating method and conventional equating methods exhibited different patterns of discrepancy between the two test forms. IRT equating yielded marginally smaller form-to-form mean score differences and generated slightly fewer distributional discrepancies between Forms A and B than both linear and equipercentile equating. However, the results were mixed indicating that more studies are needed to provide additional information on the relative merits and weaknesses of each approach.

Assessing changes in socioemotional adjustment across early school transitions-new national scales for children at risk.

This article reports the development and evidence for validity and application of the Adjustment Scales for Early Transition in Schooling (ASETS). Based on primary analyses of data from the Head Start Impact Study, a nationally representative sample (N=3077) of randomly selected children from low-income households is configured to inform developmental-transitional stability and change in socioemotional adjustment. Longitudinal exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the ASETS revealed behavioral dimensions of Aggression, Attention Seeking, Reticence/Withdrawal, Low Energy, and higher-order dimensions of Overactivity and Underactivity. Each dimension was vertically equated through IRT, with Bayesian scoring across 2 years of prekindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade. Multilevel modeling provides evidence for concurrent validity, assessment of future risk, and detection of differential growth trajectories across the 4 years of early school transition.

Measuring preschool cognitive growth while it's still happening: the Learning Express.

Educators need accurate assessments of preschool cognitive growth to guide curriculum design, evaluation, and timely modification of their instructional programs. But available tests do not provide content breadth or growth sensitivity over brief intervals. This article details evidence for a multiform, multiscale test criterion-referenced to national standards for alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension and mathematics, developed in field trials with 3433 3-5(1/2)-year-old Head Start children. The test enables repeated assessments (20-30 min per time point) over a school year. Each subscale is calibrated to yield scaled scores based on item response theory and Bayesian estimation of ability. Multilevel modeling shows that nearly all score variation is associated with child performance rather than examiner performance and individual growth-curve modeling demonstrates the high sensitivity of scores to child growth, controlled for age, sex, prior schooling, and language and special needs status.

Use of city-archival data to inform dimensional structure of neighborhoods.

A growing body of research has explored the impact of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent health and well-being. Most previous research has used the US Census variables as the measures of neighborhood ecology, although informative census data are not designed to represent the sociological and structural features that characterize neighborhoods. Alternatively, this study explored the use of large-city administrative data and geographical information systems to develop more uniquely informative empirical dimensions of neighborhood context. Exploratory and confirmatory structural analyses of geographically referenced administrative data aggregated to the census-block group identified three latent dimensions: social stress, structural decline, and neighborhood crime. Resultant dimensions were compared through canonical regression to those derived from US Census data. The relative explanatory capacity of the city-archival and census dimensions was assessed through multilevel linear modeling to predict standardized reading and mathematics achievement of 31,742 fifth- and 28,922 eight-grade children. Results indicated that the city-archival dimensions uniquely augmented predictions, and the combination of city and census dimensions explained significantly more neighborhood effects on achievement than did either source of neighborhood information independently.

Treatment-related symptom clusters in breast cancer: a secondary analysis.

This study investigated treatment-related symptom clusters and the influence of selected demographic/clinical variables on symptom clustering in breast cancer patients across a treatment trajectory. A secondary analysis of 282 breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy was done to determine the clustering of oncologic treatment-related symptoms at selected time points of treatment. Two distinct clusters were identified: a psychoneurological cluster and an upper gastrointestinal cluster. The clustering of symptoms was generally stable across the treatment trajectory. The clustering, however, was weaker when the time lapse after the completion of treatment became longer. Demographic and clinical variables did not significantly influence symptom clustering. Psychoneurological symptoms had a tendency to occur together across the treatment trajectory, as did upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Effective symptom assessment/management strategies need to take into account this co-occurrence of symptoms. The findings from this study underscore the need for further investigation of the common biological basis of symptoms to attain more effective management of multiple symptoms.

An investigation of classroom situational dimensions of emotional and behavioral adjustment and cognitive and social outcomes for Head Start children.

This study used a developmental-ecological approach to investigate the relationship across the school year between early problems in preschool classroom situations and a comprehensive set of readiness competencies for urban low-income children. Study 1 identified 3 reliable and unique underlying classroom situational dimensions where behavior problems occurred: structured learning, peer interaction, and teacher interaction situations. Boys and younger children evidenced more problematic behavior across all situations. Study 2 investigated the relationship between early problems in the situations and readiness outcomes. Early situational difficulties uniquely and differentially predicted lower peer social and classroom learning outcomes. In combination, both the type of behavior problem (what) and the situational problem (where) explained greater variance in the prediction of readiness outcomes, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of developmental trajectories.

Employing community data to investigate social and structural dimensions of urban neighborhoods: an early childhood education example.

The present study sought to define neighborhood context by examining relationships among data from city-level administrative databases at the level of the census block group. The present neighborhood investigation included 1,801 block groups comprising a large, northeastern metropolitan area. Common factor analyses and multistage, hierarchical cluster analyses yielded two dimensions (i.e., Social Stress, Structural Danger) and two typologies (i.e., Racial Composition, Property Structure Composition) of neighborhood context. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses revealed small but statistically significant associations between neighborhood variables and academic outcomes for public school kindergarten children.

A nationwide epidemiologic modeling study of LD: risk, protection, and unintended impact.

Through multiple logistic regression modeling, this article explores the relative importance of risk and protective factors associated with learning disabilities (LD). A representative national sample of 6- to 17-year-old students (N = 1,268) was drawn by random stratification and classified by the presence versus absence of LD in reading, spelling, and mathematics according to ability-achievement discrepancies or low achievement levels. The dichotomous classifications were regressed on sets of explanatory variables indicating potential biological, social-environmental, and cognitive factors, problem behavior, and classroom learning behavior. Modeling revealed patterns of high risk for male students and students evincing verbal and nonverbal ability problems and processing speed problems. It was shown that, absent controls for cognitive abilities (such as provided by the ability-achievement discrepancy definition), definitions keyed to low achievement will substantially overidentify ethnic minority and disadvantaged students and will be confounded by significantly higher proportions of students who display oppositional and aggressive behavior problems. Alternatively, good learning behaviors uniformly provide substantial reduction in the risk for LD.

Preschool competency in context: an investigation of the unique contribution of child competencies to early academic success.

The present concurrent study combined developmental and ecological considerations to examine the unique contribution of multiple preschool competencies to an indicator of early academic success. Participants included 195 Head Start children from 32 classrooms representative of a large, urban Head Start program. Dimensional (variable-centered) analyses revealed 3 distinct classroom competency dimensions (i.e., General Classroom Competencies, Specific Approaches to Learning, and Interpersonal Classroom Behavioral Problems). The first 2 of these dimensions were found to be uniquely associated with early academic success. Findings from typological (person-centered) analyses supported the dimensional findings. Typological analyses revealed 7 profiles of classroom competency distinguished by high scores on the dimensions of General Competencies and Approaches to Learning, and these profiles were found to relate differentially to the indicator of early academic success.

Comparison of embedded and isolated administrations of the California Psychological Inventory's Socialization subscale.

Alternate administration methods were tested for the Socialization (So) subscale of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; H. G. Gough, 1994; H. G. Gough & P. Bradley, 1996) in 437 young adult men. One method administered the 46 CPI-So items in isolation from the CPI, whereas the 2nd method administered the 46 items embedded in the CPI. External validity measures of antisociality were also administered over the 2 sessions. Isolated administration produced somewhat higher internal consistency and significantly better concurrent validity and demonstrated construct validity as a measure of antisociality. Additional factor analytic studies of the CPI-So and CPI revealed that the 2 CPI-So versions had different factorial structures and that the embedded CPI-So subscale did not retain factorial integrity or an appreciable amount of reliable and uniquely interpretable variance.