This study examined the relationship between teachers’ beliefs regarding self-regulated learning (SRL), together with key demographic variables, including gender, school sector and teaching experience, and their SRL instruction. A survey investigating teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices regarding SRL was administered to 873 Hong Kong teachers teaching in primary (N = 429) and secondary schools (N = 444). The instruments were examined from a Rasch measurement perspective and the results demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties of the instruments for use with the current sample. The Rasch-calibrated person measures were subsequently subject to hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results showed that teachers’ beliefs about the benefits of SRL and student capacity in implementing SRL were positive and significant predictors of SRL instructional practices. Gender was also a significant predictor of SRL instructional practices, with female teachers demonstrating higher levels of SRL instructional practices. The implications of the findings for teaching practice and teacher education are discussed.
[Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]

Background: Since 2005, professionals in nine special schools collectively had developed an assessment tool called SCALES for all students regardless they are in special or mainstream schools in Hong Kong. Based on the concept of “one common curriculum for all”, SCALES is classified into the four Key Learning Area (KLA) strands of learning as in the mainstream curriculum framework, namely, Chinese, Science, Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE) and Mathematics. This means that for the first time all of the students are being measured by exactly the same criteria irrespective of the ability or disability. Aims: In this study, we aim to apply Rasch measurement approach to analyzing a this innovative evaluation tool for children with special needs due to intellectual disabilities. Since Rasch measurement can convert ordinal measures into interval measures, the latter of which is fundamental for objective measurement in human sciences (Bond and Fox 2007). Methods: By using Winsteps, statistics such as infit and outfit mean square, person separation index, reliability, and dimensionality of the measurement scales are supported empirically. Results: The uni-dimensionality of the four major subject areas is supported with good psychometric properties such as high reliability and person separations that help differentiation of subjects. Selective applications of some items of these scales could be used by practitioners for quick screening and better intervention for care of children with special leaning needs. Conclusion: The scales are supported with both subject experts’ observation and quantitative evidence from sophisticated psychometric tests. Successful establishment of the instrument by subject experts is evident and quality-assured administration of the Rasch-based items in the future is recommended as the SCALES has proved to be a valid and reliable assessment measure for diverse learners.

Background: This study is part of a larger study entitled “Secondary Students’ Independent Learning” funded by a Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (Number HKIED 8005/03H) of the Research Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR Government. The original project aimed to establish and validate with empirical data, a conceptual framework of self-directed learning, the characteristics and processes involved and their relations with academic achievement of secondary students. Aims and Keywords: This study aimed to explore the effect of academic aims, goal setting and planning on academic achievement of secondary students. Sample: The sample comprised 14,846 students currently enrolled at Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 (except Secondary 5) from 23 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Methods: Students completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising 4-point Likert items (1: Strongly Disagree, 2: Partly Disagree; 3: Partly Agree, 4: Strongly Agree) on academic aims, goal setting, planning, and other aspects of self-directed learning not included in this study. Each construct was measured by five items. Measurement quality of the scales according to the framework was established using the Winsteps software (version 3.72.3). Based on Rasch scores of the latent variables and standardized scores of Chinese, English and mathematics, structural equation modeling was undertaken using Mplus (version 6). Results: Analyses indicated that academic aims and academic planning both directly predicted academic achievement, with educational aims being the stronger predictor. Academic goal setting indirectly predicted academic achievement via academic planning. Consistency was found both in the structure and in the effects of the predictor across gender and year levels. Conclusion: The study shows that self-directed learning has positive effect on academic achievement of secondary students of both gender and all year levels.

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to explore the Hong Kong teachers' intentions to implement school-based assessment (SBA) and the predictors of those intentions. A total of 280 teachers from Hong Kong secondary schools who had been involved in SBA were surveyed. Rasch-calibrated teacher measures were calculated for each of the 6 variables – affective and instrumental attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, knowledge, and intention – regarding SBA. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that instrumental attitude and self-efficacy made significant contributions to predicting intentions to implement SBA. These 2 predictors explained 55.2% of the variance in intentions. The other 3 variables, that is, affective attitude, subject norm, and knowledge, did not have significant predictive power on the formation of intentions to implement SBA. Possible explanations and implications of the findings are discussed.
[Copyright © Routledge].

This study aims to explore the relationships between the extent and perceived quality of teachers' experience of training in behaviour management (BM), and their awareness of the nature and extent of behavioural problems among school students, and their confidence in their own competence to deal with such problems. Teachers (n=183) from Hong Kong primary schools were surveyed. The results showed that gender, age and whether teachers have received training had no significant influence on teachers' awareness, conception and confidence regarding BM. A negative correlation was found between teachers' levels of satisfaction in relation to their training experiences and their perceptions of the level of problematic behaviours among students, and the impact of students' problematic behaviour on their teaching. A positive correlation was found between teachers' levels of satisfaction in relation to their training experiences and their confidence in their own competence to deal with students' problematic behaviour.

This study aimed at providing explanation and prediction of principals' inclusive education intentions and practices under the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A sample of 209 principals from Hong Kong schools was surveyed using five scales that were developed to assess the five components of TPB: attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control, intention, and behaviour. Rasch analysis was utilised to examine the psychometric quality of the scales and generate principals' measures, which were subsequently subjected to path analysis to investigate the relationships among the five components. The results revealed a good model-data fit. Principals' attitude and perceived subjective norm were strong and significant predictors of their intention to implement inclusive education. The predictive power of perceived behaviour control on intention was not significant. Intention and perceived behaviour control were found to have significant predictive power for principals' reported inclusive practice. The implications of the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Cambridge Journal of Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2014.934203]

This study extends investigations into 2 areas: Ease of use in the environment and markers' acceptance of On Screen Marking (OSM) in the Hong Kong public examination context. In contrast to previous studies where there was a single focus, this study comprises a heterogeneous approach. The sample contains scripts from three subjects (English, Chinese, and Liberal Studies). Scripts comprised essays and short-answer questions, as well as scripts written in either English or Chinese. Two scales assessing the ease of use and markers' acceptance of OSM were investigated from a Rasch measurement perspective; with both scales showing good psychometric properties. The findings revealed that markers generally had a high level of perceived ease of use in the environment and the overall acceptance of OSM was positive. Differences of person measures across language, question type, and subject were compared, and the implications of the two scales for future research are briefly discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Research & Evaluation is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2013.793604]