2-045 - Strengthening the measurement toolbox: development and validation of technology-based executive function and cognitive assessments

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Recently, much attention has focused on the necessity of all children to develop a range of skills, including cognition and general knowledge, language, social and emotional skills, executive function, physical wellbeing, and motor development (Snow, 2007). However, the ability for researchers, parents, and teachers to measure these skills is somewhat limited because few appropriate, ecologically valid, and predictive measures exist to directly assess children’s full range of skills, including executive function (Blair et al., 2005; Carlson, 2005). Direct observational measures exist, but many are intended for the laboratory or clinical populations or are part of longer batteries that are impractical for school-based research (Fahie & Symons, 2003). Many assessments require specialized materials and substantial time to administer (Hughes, 1998), and few measures are intended for multiple-language populations.

The papers in the proposed symposium illuminate innovative work aimed at strengthening the research tools needed to answer scholarly questions regarding the effectiveness of education across multiple indicators while also enhancing the usability of those findings for the day-to-day work of practitioners and policymakers. Each paper is designed to address pressing educational measurement issues: (1) development of appropriate, ecologically valid, and predictive measures; (2) available in multiple languages; and (3) spans across age ranges. The papers in the proposed symposium advance the field’s measurement of children’s range of skills in education settings through the development and validation of technology based, easy-to-use, highly engaging and automated scoring child assessments. Morris, as a discussant, will address implications of these measurement tools for research and practice.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Pamela Morris, NYU

Individual Presentations

• Assessing Executive Functions in the Classroom Context Using Tablet-Based Tasks - Presenting Author: Jelena Obradović, Stanford University; Michael J Sulik, New York University; Jenna Elizabeth Finch, Stanford University; Nicole Tirado-Strayer, Stanford University

• Psychometrics of the Minnesota Executive Function Scale - Presenting Author: Alyssa Meuwissen, University of Minnesota; Rebecca Distefano, University of Minnesota; Jessica Faber, UMN; Amanda Grenell, University of Minnesota; Sammy Perone, Washington State University; Emily Prager, University of Minnesota; Erin Schubert, University of Minnesota; Andrei Semenov, University of Minnesota; Julie Vaisarova, University of Minnesota; Philip Zelazo, University of Minnesota; Stephanie Carlson, University of Minnesota

• Reliability and validity of a tablet-based version of the Woodcock-Johnson Applied Problems and Letter-Word Identification - Presenting Author: Natalia Rojas, New York University; Carlos Quirola, New York University; Pamela Morris, NYU; C Cybele Raver, New York University