The assessment of differential student learning behaviors in Trinidad and Tobago: A cross-cultural construct validity study of the Learning Behaviors Scale

The intent of this research study is to evaluate the cross-cultural construct validity of the Learning Behaviors Scale (LBS) as a measure of differential learning behaviors observed in school-aged children in Trinidad and Tobago. The LBS is a 29-item objective behavior rating scale designed for classroom teachers to complete. The measure was originally standardized in the United States on a large, nationally representative sample of children between the ages of 5 and 17 years. Teachers\u27 ratings on the LBS yield scores on four distinct dimensions of learning behaviors. These include Competence Motivation, Attitude Toward Learning, Attention/Persistence, and Strategy/Flexibility. These dimensions of learning behaviors were found to be generalizable across age, gender and ethnicity. The present study uses a large stratified random sample of elementary school children from Trinidad and Tobago (N = 798). Exploratory common factor analyses revealed a three-dimension latent structure. The three dimensions comported closely with three of the four original LBS dimensions. The Attention/Persistence dimension was not replicated in the current study. The internal consistency of the yielded factor structure was acceptable. Invariance and generalizability of the factor structure to random and relevant demographic subgroups of the sample was established. Additionally, confirmatory oblique cluster analysis was applied to validate further the derived structure. Second-order exploratory analyses indicated the presence of a single, higher-order factor. Analysis of variance was used to determine learning behavior dimension scores varied as a function of ethnicity. Analyses of rank precedence and differential prevalence of learning behaviors were conducted via rank order correlations and multiple logistic regression, respectively. Relevant extant research literature is addressed and implications for future research discussed. Noteworthy contributions of the study and its limitations are also presented