Background: Authentic situations are considered a source of learning due to their real world relevance. This can encourage learners to acquire new knowledge. Increasing digitisation and associated resources, such as professional development opportunities for teachers, technology tools, or digital equipment for schools enable the development and…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to overwhelm the functioning and outcomes of educational systems throughout the nation. The public education system is under particular scrutiny given that students, families, and educators are under considerable stress to maintain academic progress. Since the beginning of the crisis, school-systems…

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…

Many innovative item formats have been proposed over the past decade, but little empirical research has been conducted on their measurement properties. This study examines the reliability, efficiency, and construct validity of two innovative item formats--the figural response (FR) and constructed response (CR) formats used in a K-12 computerized…

This study investigated the reading behavior of 15-year-old students while reading texts and answering corresponding multiple-choice questions. The availability of the texts during question answering was manipulated experimentally. Allocation of resources to several cognitive processes at the word, sentence, and text level was measured by…

This study investigated whether scores obtained from the online and paper-and-pencil administrations of the statewide end-of-course English test were equivalent for students with and without disabilities. Score comparability was evaluated by examining equivalence of factor structure (measurement invariance) and differential item and bundle…

An online interactive geometry item was developed to explore students' abilities to create prototypical and "tilted" rectangles out of line segments. The item was administered to 1,002 students. The responses to the item were hand-coded as correct, incorrect, or incorrect with possible evidence of a misconception. A variation of the nearest…

The goal of this study is to analyze the self-regulation processes present in task-oriented reading activities. In the 1st experiment, we examined the following self-regulation processes in the context of answering questions about an available text: (a) monitoring the comprehension of the question, (b) self-regulating the search process, and (c)…

This article provides an overview of the development and validation of the Student Tool for Technology Literacy (ST[superscript 2]L). Developing valid and reliable objective performance measures for monitoring technology literacy is important to all organizations charged with equipping students with the technology skills needed to successfully…

This article describes a comparative study conducted at the item level for paper and online administrations of a statewide high stakes assessment. The goal was to identify characteristics of items that may have contributed to mode effects. Item-level analyses compared two modes of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for up to four…

We present scaling outcomes for mathematics assessments used in the fall to screen students at risk of failing to learn the knowledge and skills described in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Focal Point Standards. At each grade level, the assessment consisted of a 48-item test with three 16-item sub-test sets aligned to the…

This report presents results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in writing at grades 8 and 12. In this new national writing assessment sample, 24,100 eighth-graders and 28,100 twelfth-graders engaged with writing tasks and composed their responses on computer. The assessment tasks reflected writing situations common to…

"Accelerated Reader"[TM] is a guided reading intervention used to supplement regular reading instruction in K-12 classrooms. Its aim is to improve students' reading skills through reading practice and quizzes on the books students read. The "Accelerated Reader"[TM] program calls for students to select and read a book and then…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of mathematics progress monitoring measures intended for use with students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. These measures, available as part of easyCBM[TM], an online progress monitoring assessment system, were developed in 2007 and 2008 and administered to…