Assessment for Effective Intervention XX(X) 1–12 © 2011 Hammill Institute on Disabilities Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1534508411406899 http://aei.sagepub.com 406899AEI XX X 10.1177/1534508411406899Argyro poulos et al.Assessment for Effective Intervention © 2011 Hammill Institute on Disabilities Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav 1 University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece 2 University of Crete, Rethimno, Greece Corresponding Author: Vassilios Argyropoulos, Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, Argonafton & Filellinon Streets, Volos 38221, Greece Email: vassargi@uth.gr Assessing Self-Regulation in Individuals With Visual Impairments: Generality Versus Specificity in Self-Regulatory Functioning Vassilios Argyropoulos 1 , Georgios D. Sideridis 2 , George Botsas 1 , and Susana Padeliadu 1 Abstract The purpose of the present study was to assess self-regulation of students with visual impairments across two academic subjects, language and math. The participants were 46 Greek students with visual impairments who completed self- regulation measures across the subject matters of language and math. Initially, the factorial validity of the scale was established. In turn, results pointed to the existence of a single universal self-regulation functioning pattern in individuals with visual impairments across subject matters (at the mean level). Measurement invariance was also observed at the item level through imposing equality constraints between items from different subjects. Based on the findings, it is suggested that self-regulation is not context specific for individuals with visual impairments. Keywords self-regulation, strategy use, visual impairments, measurement invariance, latent variable modeling Perhaps our most important quality as humans is our capa- bility to self-regulate. It has provided us with an adaptive edge that enabled our ancestors to survive and even flourish when changing conditions led other species to extinction. Zimmerman, 2005 (p. 13) Self-regulated learning describes a process that relies heav- ily on thinking about one’s thinking (metacognition); on the use of planning, monitoring, and other processes (strategy use); and on the use of adaptive driving patterns (i.e., motiva- tion) (Butler & Winne, 1995; Flavell, 1979; Perry, Phillips, & Hutchinson, 2006; Winne & Perry, 2000). Self-regulation originated in the works of Flavell (1976), Pintrich (1989), Zimmerman (1989, 1990), and Schunk and Zimmerman (1994, 1997, 1998), among others. The self- regulation model posits that the attainment of every goal entails a set of behaviors that altogether are responsible for successful or unsuccessful outcomes. The former describes successful self-regulation and the latter the opposite. This set of behaviors consists of metacognitive control processes that are characterized mainly by three aspects: planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The construct “self-regulation” is divided into multiple subcomponents such as altering strategies based on past experience and active monitoring of current activities (Osman & Hannafin, 1992; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2004). Apparently, the ability to self-regulate in order to accomplish a goal is a paramount attainment at schools today as the demands are increasing. Subsequently, the ability to self-regulate may generalize in other spheres of life and may altogether lead to the successful attainment of goals (e.g., social, professional). The issue of specificity or generality of metacognition, a part of self-regulation, was set in the early 1990s. The ques- tion was whether the metacognitive procedures that stu- dents use are of a general kind. This question was actually associated with the research question whether metacogni- tive abilities reflect students’ “state” characteristics or “traits,” with states reflecting situation-specific behaviors at Aristotle University on October 29, 2015 aei.sagepub.com Downloaded from