Abstract
This study utilized a database of school readiness data on Head Start children throughout Florida to investigate the factor structure of Approaches to Learning (ATL) within the Galileo School Readiness Assessment System. Several approaches to handling the potential problems of factor analysis of dichotomous items were employed and compared. These were principal components analysis with Pearson's correlations, principal axis factoring with Pearson's correlations, principal axis factoring with tetrachoric correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis. None of the methods appeared to completely eliminate the problem of possible technical rather than substantive factors. While factors differed on average item difficulty, suggesting technical factors, they did have some degree of face validity suggesting there may be some substantial aspect to the factors as well that could be clarified with further research.