Biomedical subjects

N Bezruczko

Publications and source records attributed to N Bezruczko.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Competency gradient for child-parent centers.

This report describes an implementation of the Rasch model during the longitudinal evaluation of a federally-funded early childhood preschool intervention program. An item bank is described for operationally defining a psychosocial construct called community life-skills competency, an expected teenage outcome of the preschool intervention. This analysis examined the position of teenage students on this scale structure, and investigated a pattern of cognitive operations necessary for students to pass community life-skills test items. Then this scale structure was correlated with nationally standardized reading and math achievement scores, teacher ratings, and school records to assess its validity as a measure of the community-related outcome goal for this intervention. The results show a functional relationship between years of early intervention and magnitude of effect on the life-skills competency variable.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1996

The development of visual preferences in art-trained and non-art-trained schoolchildren.

Measures of four dimensions of visual preference (preferences for symmetry, simplicity, uniformity, and expressiveness) and a standardized test of visual-arts achievement were administered to art-trained and non-art-trained children in kindergarten, Grade 3, Grade 7, and high school. The art and non-art groups were matched at the school level on family income, English-language and ethnic backgrounds, school attendance, and school neighborhoods. The results showed effects for age and instruction, but the effects for instruction did not increase after Grade 3. The relative independence of the visual-preference dimensions from visual arts learning suggests they may measure individual differences that take shape early in development and are related to visual arts performance.

Achievement↗

PubMed1996

Cognitive and family-support mediators of preschool effectiveness: a confirmatory analysis.

Investigated in this study were the mediators of the effects of preschool intervention on children's school achievement in sixth grade. A confirmatory structural model developed in a previous study of third graders was tested with 360 low-income, mostly black children who were available at the 3-year follow-up. The model incorporated cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry and parent involvement in school (rated by teachers and parents) as primary mediators of preschool effectiveness. In sixth grade (age 12), preschool participation at ages 3 or 4 was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, higher math achievement, and with lower incidence of grade retention. Cognitive readiness and parent involvement in school significantly mediated the estimated effects of preschool participation on school achievement and grade retention 7 years postprogram. Teacher ratings of school adjustment, school mobility, and grade retention also contributed to the transmission of effects. This integrated model fit the data better than several alternative models, including those based on the cognitive-advantage and family-support hypotheses.

Achievement↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Measurement Properties of the Symptom Impact Inventory.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the measurement properties of the Symptom Impact Inventory using both psychometric and Rasch analyses. This inventory is designed for generally healthy midlife women. The sample included 340 midlife women aged 45-65 representing two studies. The first study involved Black and White employed sedentary women (n = 161) who volunteered for a walking intervention. The second study of migration and health included women who were recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union (n = 179). The women reported experiencing an average of 13.44 symptoms (S.D.=7.88) with a range of 1 to 32. Principal components analysis identified 5 components in this sample. Rasch measurement analysis found excellent model fit for the Symptom Impact Inventory with only 2 symptoms, Decreased appetite and Decreased sexual desire or interest, unstable in scale dimensionality analyses. Person and item parameters were reliable, and comparisons with groups known to differ on symptom reporting provided substantial validity. Although the two sample groups differed significantly on most demographic characteristics, a cross-cultural comparison found the scale structure remarkably robust.

Black or African American↗