4-H Common Measures (Paper)

National 4-H Common Measures: Initial Evaluation from California 4-H

Paper published in the Journal of Extension: http://www.joe.org/joe/2015april/rb3.php/www.joe.org/joe/2015april/rb3.php

Abstract

Evaluation is a key component to learning about the effectiveness of a program. The present paper provides descriptive statistics of the newly developed National 4-H Common Measures (science, healthy living, citizenship, and youth development) based on data from 721 California 4-H youth. The measures were evaluated for their reliability and validity of individual items and overall measures using exploratory factor analysis. The measures overall appear to assess what they are intended to assess, but there are several methodological issues, such as cross-loading items and low variance. Recommendations for scale refinement and modifications are made.

Appendix A: List of Common Measure Items

Appendix B: Correlations of the National Scales and California Scales with other Outcomes

Appendix C: Correlations between National Scales and California Scales

SPSS Syntax Files - zip file contains these SPSS syntax files:

• EFA-Citizenship-Grades 4 to 7
• EFA-Citizenship-Grades 8 to 12
• EFA-Science Literacy-Grades 4 to 7
• EFA-Science Literacy-Grades 8 to 12
• Recodes and Scale Creation-Grades 4 to 7
• Recodes and Scale Creation-Grades 8 to 12