These are the appendixes for the report, "Strengthening the Pennsylvania School Climate Survey to Inform School Decisionmaking." This study analyzed Pennsylvania School Climate Survey data from students and staff in the 2021/22 school year to assess the validity and reliability of the elementary school student version of the survey;…

In this study we evaluated the stability of item parameters and student scores, using the pre-equated (pre-pandemic) parameters from Spring 2019 and post-equated (post-pandemic) parameters from Spring 2021 in two calibration and equating designs related to item parameter treatment: re-estimating all anchor parameters (Design 1) and holding the…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study designed to measure trends in mathematics and science achievement at grades 4 and 8, as well as to collect information about educational contexts (such as students' schools, teachers, and homes) that may be related to student achievement. TIMSS has…

In Winter 2021-2022, the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) assessments are administered in ELA and mathematics in Grades 3-8. In Spring 2021-2022, the NSCAS assessments are administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics in Grades 3-8 and in science in Grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international comparative study of student performance in reading literacy at the fourth grade. PIRLS 2016 marks the fourth iteration of the study, which has been conducted every 5 years since 2001. New to the PIRLS assessment in 2016, ePIRLS provides a computer-based extension to…

The Spring 2020 Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) General Summative testing was cancelled due to COVID-19. This technical report documents the processes and procedures that had been implemented to support the Spring 2020 assessments prior to the cancellation. The following sections are presented in this technical report: (1)…

In Fall and Winter 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in ELA and mathematics for grades 3-8. In Spring 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for grades 3-8 and in science for grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to measure and report Nebraska students'…

This technical report documents the processes and procedures implemented to support the Spring 2019 Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) General Summative English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science assessments by NWEA® under the supervision of the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The technical report shows how the…

In the summer of 2013, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) issued public, highly-visible ratings of teacher education programs as part of their ambitious and controversial Teacher Prep Review. We provide the first empirical examination of NCTQ ratings, beginning with a descriptive overview of the ratings and documentation of how they…

There is strong theoretical support for oral reading fluency (ORF) as an essential building block of reading proficiency. The current and standard ORF assessment procedure requires that students read aloud a grade-level passage (˜ 250 words) in a one-to-one administration, with the number of words read correctly in 60 seconds constituting their…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2018 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e., individual…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2017 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e., individual…

Federal initiatives and other research have led states across the nation to sharpen their focus on teacher evaluation in recent years. In 2009 a seminal report, "The Widget Effect," from The New Teacher Project revealed that in districts using a binary rating system to evaluate teachers, less than 1 percent of teachers received an…

The purpose of this technical report is to describe the third operational administration of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments in the 2016-2017 academic year. PARCC is a state-led consortium creating next-generation assessments that, compared to traditional K-12 assessments, more accurately…

The 6+1 Trait[R] Writing model (Culham 2003) emphasizes writing instruction in which teachers and students analyze writing using a set of characteristics, or "traits," of written work: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. The Ideas trait includes the main content and message, including…