Data of item responses to the Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behaviour Checklist from 673 Chinese primary grade students were analyzed using the dichotomous Rasch measurement model. Rasch scaling suggested that the data fit the model adequately with a latent dimension of global dyslexic dysfunctioning. Estimates of item attributes and person functioning on the same logit scale allowed the locations of person functioning to be interpreted in terms of item content. The substantial correlation between person estimates and external criterion measures (literacy and cognitive skills) provided support for the validity of the checklist in identifying children at risk for dyslexia. A common cutoff score based on person estimates across grades is suggested to replace the different cutoff scores based on conventional test scores for different grades. Implications of the findings for the use and the future development or refinement of the checklist are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19404150903524598]

This study describes the validation and interpretation of the Parents' Attributions and Perception Questionnaire (PAPQ) using confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch modelling to report both the construct validity and category structure of the scales in the questionnaire. The PAPQ was developed to reflect the proposal that parents mediate the relationship between their children's social and psychological development, and their academic achievement, within the context of Hong Kong. The questionnaire consists of four subscales that reflect different interactions between parents and their children in relation to their children's academic-related activities, including a Parental Attributions Scale, Parental Beliefs of Working Memory Scale, Parental Home and School Involvement Scale, and Parental Academic Expectations Scale. These subscales were supplemented by a fifth subscale that describes parents' socio-economic background. The PAPQ was administered to 215 parents from four schools in Hong Kong. Results showed that the four subscales of the PAPQ are valid and reliable unidimensional measures of constructs related to parental role in the academic achievement of their children, thereby enabling future research to directly test Vygotsky's hypothesis.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2010.496900]