The class climate is acknowledged as being related to student learning. Students learn more in classrooms that are supportive and caring. However, there are few class climate instruments at the elementary school level. The aim of the current study was to assess the measurement invariance of a recently developed scale in a different context (New Zealand) from where it was developed (the United States) and across different ethnic groups. A total of 1,924 elementary school students (963 males and 961 females) participated. Students completed the Student Personal Perception of Classroom Climate (SPPCC). Results of the invariance tests of the SPPCC across four ethnic samples (New Zealand European, Māori, Pasifika, and Asian) indicated that the SPPCC represented the same four factors in classroom climate for each of these groups (configural invariance). Results also revealed that full metric invariance was supported although only partial scalar invariance was achieved because of a lack of invariance in the thresholds for five items. Therefore, this study provided empirical support for the SPPCC when used within a new context and with different ethnic groups. Future studies to enhance the usability of the SPPCC are discussed.
Student learning is increasingly taking place in digital environments both within and outside schooling contexts. Educational assessments are following suit, both to take advantage of the conveniences and opportunities that digital environments provide as well as to reflect the mediums of learning increasingly taking place in societies around the world. A social context relevant to learning and assessment in the digital age is the great differences in access to and competence in technology among students from different segments of societies. Therefore, access and competency in relation to technology become critical contexts for evaluations that rely on digitally based assessments. This chapter examines the digital divide between students from different segments of the society and discusses strategies for minimizing effects of digital divide on assessments of student learning. The research focuses on two types of demographic groups—gender and socioeconomic status (SES) groups—that have been highlighted in research on the digital divide. The research utilizes data from IEA’s International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2013 for Grade 8 students administered in 21 jurisdictions around the world. It thus provides an international perspective on digital divide as an important context for international assessments as well as assessments within jurisdictions such as Mexico that are conducting assessments in digitally based environments.
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