In this study, teacher ratings of academically talented (AT) students on the Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) were examined for evidence of reliability and validity in two cohorts attending a summer program. The LBS is a 29-item rating scale assessing learning behaviors related to academic success. Cohort 1 consisted of 387 students and Cohort 2 consisted of 287 students. The AT students’ scores were similar to scores of gifted and talented and high-IQ students in the normative sample, and reliability estimates of participants’ scores were in the moderate to high range. The scores resulted in factors that were similar to those found in the normative sample, and coefficients of congruence were greater than .85 for two LBS factors across samples. LBS scores predicted achievement after controlling for previous achievement and socioeconomic status. Future research should examine LBS scores in public school settings with identified and referred students.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ashman, S. S., & Vukelich, C. (1983). The effect of different types of nomination forms on teachers’ identification of gifted children. Psychology in the Schools, 20, 518-527.
2.
Baldwin, A. Y. (1985). Programs for the gifted and talented: Issues concerning minority populations. In F. D. Horowitz & M. O’Brien (Eds.), The gifted and talented: Developmental perspectives (pp. 223-249). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3.
Barron, F. (1963). Creativity and psychological health. Princeton, NJ: VanNostrand.
4.
Bartlett, M. S. (1954). A note on the multiplying factors for various chi square approximations. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 16(Series B), 296-298.
5.
Benson, J. (1998). Developing a strong program of construct validation: A test anxiety example. Education Measurement: Issues and Practice, 17, 10-22.
6.
Bernstein, I. H., & Teng, G. (1989). Factoring items and factoring scales are different: Spurious evidence for multidimensionality due to item categorization. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 467-477.
7.
Bireley, M. (1995). Identifying high ability/high achievement giftedness. In J. L. Genshaft, M. Bireley, & C. L. Hollinger (Eds.), Serving gifted and talented students: A resource for school personnel (pp. 49-65). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
8.
Borland, J. (1978). Teacher identification of the gifted: A new look. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 2, 22-32.
9.
Bryant, F. B., & Yarnold, P. R. (1995). Principal-components analysis and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. In L. G. Grimm & P. R. Yarnold (Eds.), Reading and understanding multivariate statistics (pp. 99-136). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
10.
Burke, J. P., Haworth, C. E., & Ware, W. B. (1982). Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students: An investigation of factor structure. Journal of Special Education, 16, 477-485.
11.
Carroll, J. B. (1985). Exploratory factor analysis: A tutorial. In D. K. Detterman (Ed.), Current topics in human intelligence. Volume 1: Research methodology. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
12.
Cattell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245-276.
13.
Ceci, S. J. (1991). How much does schooling influence general intelligence and its cognitive components? A reassessment of the evidence. Developmental Psychology, 27, 703-722.
14.
Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (1997). Schooling, intelligence, and income. American Psychologist, 52, 1051-1058.
15.
Comrey, A. L. (1978). Common methodological problems in factor analytic studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 648-659.
16.
Comrey, A. L. (1988). Factor-analytic methods of scale development in personality and clinical psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 754-761.
17.
Cross, T. L. (Chair). (2002, September). The many faces of gifted students in the 21st century. Panel discussion at the Roeper Review Conference, Bloomfield Hills, MI.
18.
Elliot, C. D. (1990). Differential Abilities Scale: Introductory and technical handbook. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
19.
Elliott, S. N., Argulewicz, E. N., & Turco, T. L. (1986). Predictive validity of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students for gifted children in three sociocultural groups. Journal of Experimental Education, 55, 27-32.
20.
Fishkin, A. S., & Johnson, A. S. (1998). Who is creative? Identifying children’s creative abilities. Roeper Review, 21, 40-46.
21.
Floyd, F. J., & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment, 7, 286-299.
22.
Ford, D. Y. (1995). Desegregating gifted education: A need unmet. Journal of Negro Education, 64, 52-62.
23.
Ford, D. Y. (1996). Reversing underachievement among gifted Black students: Promising practices and programs. New York: Teachers College Press.
24.
Ford, D. Y. (1998). The underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education: Problems and promises in recruitment and retention. Journal of Special Education, 32, 4-14.
25.
Freehill, M. F., & McDonald, J. (1981). Zeal: Essential to superior intellectual achievement. Gifted Child Quarterly, 25, 123-127.
26.
Gagné, F. (1994). Are teachers really poor talent detectors? Comments on Pegnato and Birch’s (1959) study of the effectiveness and efficiency of various identification techniques. Gifted Child Quarterly, 38, 124-126.
27.
Gallagher, J. J. (1995). Education of gifted students: A civil rights issue?Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 408-410.
28.
Gallagher, J. J., & Courtright, R. D. (1986). The educational definition of giftedness and its policy implications. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 93-111). New York: Cambridge University Press.
29.
Galton, F. (1869). Hereditary genius: An inquiry into its laws and consequences. London: MacMillan.
30.
Gear, G. H. (1976). Accuracy of teacher judgment in identifying intellectually gifted children: A review of the literature. Gifted Child Quarterly, 20, 478-490.
31.
Gentry, M., Rizza, M. G., & Gable, R. K. (2001). Gifted students’ perceptions of their class activities: Differences among rural, urban, and suburban student attitudes. Gifted Child Quarterly, 45, 115-129.
32.
Gilliam, J. E., Carpenter, B. O., & Christensen, J. R. (1996). Gifted and talented evaluation scales. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
33.
Goodwin, L. D., & Goodwin, W. L. (1999). Measurement myths and misconceptions. School Psychology Quarterly, 14, 408-427.
34.
Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd. ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
35.
Gorsuch, R. L. (1997). Exploratory factor analysis: Its role in item analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment, 68, 532-560.
36.
Greenawalt, C. G. (2000) An exploratory factor analysis of the Gifted Evaluation Scale with high ability students. Unpublished manuscript, The Pennsylvania State University.
37.
Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (1990). Social skills rating system. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
38.
Hammill, D. D., & Hresko, W. P. (1994). Comprehensive scales of student abilities. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
39.
Harman, H. H. (1976). Modern factor analysis (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
40.
Jacobs, J. C. (1971). Effectiveness of teacher and parent identification of gifted children as a function of school level. Psychology in the Schools, 8, 140-142.
41.
Jensen, A. R. (1998). The g factor: The science on mental ability. Westport, CT: Praeger.
42.
Kaiser, H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, 39, 31-36.
43.
Lautenschlager, G. J. (1989). A comparison of alternatives to conducting Monte Carlo analyses for determining parallel analysis criteria. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 24, 365-395.
44.
MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong, S. (1999). Sample size in factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 4, 84-99.
45.
Madden, R., Gardner, E. F., Rudman, H. C., Karlsen, B., & Merwin, J. C. (1974). Stanford achievement test. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
46.
Maker, C. J. (1996). Identification of gifted minority students: A national problem, needed changes, and a promising solution. Gifted Child Quarterly, 40, 41-50.
47.
Mathew, S. T. (1997). A review of the Gifted Evaluation Scale. Journal of School Psychology, 35, 101-104.
48.
McCarney, S. B. (1987). The Gifted Evaluation Scale: Technical manual. Columbia, MO: Hawthorne Educational Services.
49.
McCarney, S. B., & Anderson, P. D. (1998). The Gifted Evaluation Scale (2nd ed.): Technical manual. Columbia, MO: Hawthorne Educational Services.
50.
McDermott, P. A. (1999). National scales of differential learning behaviors among American children and adolescents. School Psychology Review, 28, 280-291.
51.
McDermott, P. A., Green, L. F., Francis, J. M., & Stott, D. H. (1999). Learning behaviors scale. Philadelphia, PA: Edumetric and Clinical Science.
52.
McDermott, P. A., Marston, N. C., & Stott, D. H. (1993). Adjustment scales for children and adolescents. Philadelphia, PA: Edumetric and Clinical Science.
53.
Oakland, T., Falkenberg, B. A., & Oakland, C. (1996). Assessment of leadership in children, youth, and adults. Gifted Child Quarterly, 40, 138-146.
54.
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Cross, T. L. (Cochairs). (2002, November). What price equity? Programming for gifted minority students. Panel discussion at the annual meeting of the National Association for Gifted Children, Denver.
55.
Parker, W. D., & Stumpf, H. (1995). An examination of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale with a sample of academically talented children. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 13, 372-383.
56.
Passow, A. H., & Frasier, M. M. (1996). Toward improving identification of talent potential among minority and disadvantaged students. Roeper Review, 18, 198-202.
57.
Pegnato, C. V., & Birch, J. W. (1959). Locating gifted children in junior high schools: A comparison of methods. Exceptional Children, 25, 300-304.
58.
Peterson, J. S., & Colangelo, N. (1996). Gifted achievers and underachievers: A comparison of patterns found in school files. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 399-407.
Renzulli, J. S. (1978). What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 180-184, 261-261.
61.
Renzulli, J. S. (1986). The three-ring conception of giftedness: A developmental model for creative productivity. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Serving gifted and talented students: A resource for school personnel (pp. 285-300). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
62.
Renzulli, J. S., Hartman, R. K., & Callahan, C. M. (1971). Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students. Exceptional Children, 38, 243-248.
63.
Renzulli, J. S., Smith, L. H., White, A. J., Callahan, C. M., & Hartman, R. K. (1976). Scales for rating the behavioral characteristics of superior students. Wethersfield, CT: Creative Learning Press.
64.
Renzulli, J. S., Smith, L. H., White, A. J., Callahan, C. M., & Hartman, R. K., & Westberg, K. L. (2002). Scales for rating the behavioral characteristics of superior students-Revised edition. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.
65.
Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (1992). Behavior Assessment System for Children manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
66.
Richert, E. S. (1987). Rampant problems and promising practices in the identification of disadvantaged gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 31, 149-154.
67.
Rust, J. O., & Lose, B. D. (1980). Screening for giftedness with the Slosson and the Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students. Psychology in the Schools, 17, 446-451.
68.
Schaefer, B. A. (1996). Relationship between learning behaviors and academic achievement among school-aged American children and adolescents (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(04), 1490.
69.
Schaefer, B. A., & McDermott, P. A. (1999). Learning behavior and intelligence as explanation for children’s scholastic achievement. Journal of School Psychology, 37, 299-313.
70.
Snook, S. C., & Gorsuch, R. L. (1989). Component analysis versus common factor analysis: A Monte Carlo study. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 148-154.
71.
Sosniak, L. A. (1998, August). The development of talent: We live what we learn. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.
72.
Special Education for Gifted Students, 22 Pa Code § 16.21(d) (2000).
73.
Stevens, J. (1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
74.
Suzuki, L. A., & Valencia, R. R. (1997). Race-ethnicity and measured intelligence: Educational implications. American Psychologist, 52, 1103-1114.
75.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
76.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
77.
Terman, L. M., & Merrill, M. (1973). Stanford-Binet intelligence scale, Form L-M. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
78.
Thompson, B., & Daniel, L. G. (1996). Factor analytic evidence for the construct validity of scores: A historical overview and some guidelines. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56, 197-208.
79.
Walberg, H. J., Tsai, S., Weinstein, T., Gabriel, C. L., Rasher, S. P., Rosecrans, T., et al. (1981). Childhood traits and environmental conditions of highly eminent adults. Gifted Child Quarterly, 25, 103-107.
80.
Watkins, M. W. (2000). Mac parallel analysis [Computer software]. State College, PA: Author.
81.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.
82.
Widaman, K. F. (1993). Common factor analysis versus principal component analysis: Differential bias in representing mode parameters?Multivariate Behavioral Research, 28, 263-311.
83.
Williams, F. (1980). Creativity assessment packet. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
84.
Williams, J. H., & Haynes, N. M. (1993, Summer). A university-based psychoeducational model for identifying minority gifted students. Educational Horizons, 209-216.
85.
Wood, J. M., Tataryn, D. J., & Gorsuch, R. L. (1996). Effects of under- and overextraction on principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation. Psychological Methods, 1, 354-365.
86.
Worrell, F. C. (2003). Why are there so few African Americans in gifted programs? In C. C Yeakey & R. D. Henderson (Eds.), Surmounting the odds: Education, opportunity, and society in the new millennium (pp. 423-454). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
87.
Worrell, F. C., & Kornhaber, M. L. (2003). DISCOVER or demagoguery: Examining the psychometric properties of scores on a gifted identification procedure. Manuscript submitted for publication.
88.
Worrell, F. C., Vandiver, B. J., & Watkins, M. W. (2001). Construct validity of the Learning Behaviors Scale with an independent sample of students. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 207-215.
89.
Wright, L., & Borland, J. H. (1993). Using early childhood developmental portfolios in the identification and education of young economically disadvantaged, potentially gifted students. Roeper Review, 15, 205-210.
