Project Activities
The research team planned to develop, refine, calibrate, and validate the computer adaptive test of the SDIS for youth and young adults with and without disabilities. The research team also planned to develop, refine, calibrate, and validate a computer adaptive version to be completed by the teachers or parents of the youth or young adult with or without disabilities.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research will take place in middle schools, high schools, community colleges, and 4-year institutions of higher education in Kansas and Illinois.
Sample
Approximately 3,600 students ages 13 to22 will participate in this study. The students will be selected from six different disability categories—learning disabilities, intellectual disability, autism, speech/language disability, other disabilities, and no disability. The researchers will also recruit 1,600 teachers and/or parents of the students to participate in the study.
The Self-Determination Inventory System (SDIS) will be a computer adaptive measure to evaluate the student's global self-determination skills in four domains—autonomy, self-regulation, psychological empowerment, and self-realization.
Research design and methods
The proposed work will take place in five phases. In phases 1 and 2, the research team will generate and refine the item pool for the SDIS. Q-Sorts will be used to assess the extent to which the items reflect the constructs that they are intended to measure. In phase 3, the team will pilot test the items with students with and without disabilities. Phase 4 will consist of calibrating the assessment using item response theory. In phase 5, the team will create the computer adaptive test format for the SDIS. Finally, the SDIS will be validated with several external measures.
Control condition
Due to the nature of the research design, there is no control condition.
Key measures
The SDIS validation tasks will include the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale, Children's Hope Scale, and Autonomous Functioning Checklist. Teachers and parents will complete the adult version of the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale and Autonomous Functioning Checklist.
Data analytic strategy
Item response theory will be used to evaluate measurement equivalence and content validity of items, the convergent and discriminant-related validity among the constructs, and the measurement invariance of the scale across age, disability, and testing sites.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
ERIC Citations: Find available ERIC citation here.
Select publications:
Shogren, K.A., Wehmeyer, M.L., Little, T.D., Forber-Pratt, A.J., Palmer, S.B., and Seo, H. (2017). Preliminary Validity and Reliability of Scores on the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report Version. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 40(2), 92-103. doi:10.1177/2165143415594335
Shogren, K.A., Wehmeyer, M.L., Palmer, S.B., Forber-Pratt, A., Little, T.J., and Lopez, S.J. (2015). Causal Agency Theory: Reconceptualizing a Functional Model of Self-Determination. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 50(3), 251-263.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
