This paper presents evidence on the reliability and validity of the Serbian adaptation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue), an instrument designed to comprehensively assess emotional intelligence conceived as a constellation of emotionrelated self-perceptions. Study participants were 254 adults, who completed the Serbian TEIQue, NEO-FFI, MSCEIT, EQ-short, and RSPWB. The results indicate that the adapted TEIQue is a psychometrically sound assessment tool: internal consistencies were mostly acceptable at facet, generally good at factor, and excellent at whole-scale level; the fourfactor structure was confirmed by means of CFA; convergent-discriminant validity was established through meaningful associations with related constructs, indicating that trait EI is closely aligned with affect and self-efficacy related constructs from the realm of personality (i.e., E, N, C, and Empathy), but shows only moderate overlap with ability EI; finally, incremental validity was demonstrated in the prediction of psychological wellbeing, over and above the Big Five. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018]

The field of emotional intelligence (EI) research has yielded two rather distinct ways of conceptualizing and measuring the construct, which also differ greatly in terms of their scientific value: mixed models of EI, although commercially successful, prove inadequate when subject to scientific scrutiny; by contrast, the Mayer and Salovey ability model of EI meets most of the proposed criteria for establishing a scientifically meaningful EI construct. Its current operationalization, the MSCEIT, has thus far been found to exhibit good reliability, as well as convergent-dicriminant and structural validity. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Serbian version of the test in a sample of 250 high school graduates. Our results show that the reliabilities of Serbian MSCEIT scores are equivalent to those reported for the American standardization sample; more specifically, reliability coefficients are high for the two Area scores and the Total score (r≥ .86). The Total EI score shows low to moderate correlations with standard measures of academic intelligence (r=.244 - .429; p<.01), and very low correlations with the Big Five personality traits (r<.25) - a pattern that is regarded optimal in establishing convergent-discriminant validity. The factor structure of the Serbian MSCEIT closely corresponds to that of the original test: the theoretically proposed 1-, 2- and 4-factor solutions all prove empirically sustainable; however, in the 2- and 4-factor solutions, the structure of certain EI branches diverges from that which is theoretically expected and incorporated in the scoring system. The obtained data certainly recommend the Serbian MSCEIT for standardization and practical use, in which case they should be supplemented with data regarding the test’s predictive validity. On a more basic level, our results suggest the possibility of assessing a scientifically meaningful EI construct, defined as the ability to reason with „emotional“ information

As a contemporary educational tendency, inclusion captures a great deal of attention from researchers, and hence there are numerous studies dealing with various aspects of this process. This paper is aimed at studying whether experience in work with children with impaired vision and training for work with children with disabilities lead to differences in teacher evaluations of: (a) the problems the children with impaired vision are facing in regular school; (b) readiness of regular school for inclusive education of this group of children. The sample comprised 63 teachers in regular secondary schools: 54% have had previous experience in working with children with impaired vision, while 42.9% attended training for work with children with disabilities. The results of two-factor analysis (ANOVA) suggest that teacher experience and training have an independent effect on their evaluations. Compared to the teachers without experience in work with visually impaired children, the teachers who have had this experience evaluate considerably lower the problems of adaptation and students’ fitting in school environment, complying with the demands of compulsory curriculum and the level of teacher education, while they evaluate much higher school readiness when it comes to the level of training of teaching staff. The teachers trained for work with children with disabilities evaluate lower than teachers without previous training the student problems in the accomplishment of the compulsory curriculum and much higher teacher training, adjustment of textbooks and teaching aids. The obtained findings indicate that teacher experience and training play a significant role in teacher readiness for inclusive education

Dynamic assessment is presumed to reveal specific difficulties in cognitive problem solving and determine the kinds of support which may aid in overcoming them. In the present study we examined whether these additional data provided by dynamic assessment contribute to the informativeness and usefulness of assessment reports, as rated by teachers. In the preliminary phase, nine preschoolers were tested with the adapted Serbian WISC, containing an additional block of dynamic assessment. In the main phase, two groups of elementary teachers (Nstat= 41, Ndyn= 44) rated the informativeness, usefulness, and clarity of reports based on either static, or static+dynamic assessment of three children from the preliminary sample. The results indicate a significant positive effect of dynamic assessment on teachers? ratings of the informativeness of reports (particularly regarding the child?s reactions to adult scuffolding) and their combined ratings of several aspects of the reports? usefulness. The reports did not differ with respect to clarity, and their informativeness and usefulness were generally rated very high. The findings thus provide empirical support for the proposed advantages of dynamic assessment, encourage its use in assessing school readiness, and urge school psychologists to regularly inform teachers on their observations from both static and dynamic cognitive assessment. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018]