Education researchers often encounter scenarios where an abrupt policy change occurs within or across jurisdictions or populations that affect key student outcomes. Difference-in-differences is a research design analysts can use to estimate causal effects of these "natural experiments." This article introduces education researchers to…

It is a necessity for a researcher to ensure that the validity and reliability of the study is met to prove a discovery. However, there are still qualitative researchers who are still reckless and do not emphasize the concept of validity and reliability when designing, collecting, and analysing the research findings. The quality of a qualitative…

The rapid advancement of educational technologies worldwide and the ubiquitousness of technology-integrated teaching and learning have posed great challenges to teachers. Technology leadership is an emerging focus among educators, it involves using technologies to lead learners' knowledge, abilities, and values development. However, there are few…

Purpose: Primary education (PE) forms the foundation of high-quality education systems, but it is often underestimated. This paper aims to develop and empirically validate a measurement instrument to study the current stage of total quality management (TQM) implementation in PE. Design/methodology/approach: This study developed a seven-dimensional…

This paper seeks to raise awareness among educational researchers and practitioners of some significant weaknesses and internal contradictions of randomised control trials (RCTs). Although critiques throughout the years from education scholars have pointed to the detrimental effects of this experimental approach on education practice and values,…

With the advent of big data and advances in technology, psychological assessments have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. Nevertheless, traditional psychometric issues concerning the validity, reliability, and measurement bias of such assessments remain fundamental in determining whether score inferences of human attributes are…

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are increasingly used at-scale in educational contexts to facilitate teaching and promote learning, and the data they produce can be used for educational research purposes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology has repeatedly emphasized the importance of using evidence…

The goal of this study was to extend research on scale contextualization (i.e., frame-of-reference effect) to the decision making styles construct, compare the effects of contextualization across three unique decision style scales, and examine the consequences of scale contextualization within an item response theory framework. Based on a mixed…

Background and Aims: A literature review of both Eastern and Western literature regarding families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) revealed limited empirical research that examines ASD in China. Furthermore, most research in this area comes from a deficit model and there is a lack of research that comes from a strengths background.…

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the challenges posed by disinformation in an educational context. The paper aims to review existing information assessment techniques, highlight their limitations, and propose a conceptual design for a multimodal, explainable information assessment system for higher education. The ultimate goal…

The article serves as a guide for researchers in developing evidence of validity using bivariate correlations, specifically construct validity. The authors outline the steps for calculating and interpreting bivariate correlations. Additionally, they provide an illustrative example and discuss the implications.

The goal of this paper is to examine the psychometric properties of a live-coded behavioral measure of joint attention, the "Attention-Following and Initiating Joint Attention Protocol" (JA Protocol), in order to assist researchers and clinicians in identifying when this measure may meet their joint attention assessment needs. Data from…

School climate measurement is a long-standing topic in educational research. This review article provides an overview and appraisal of school climate measures published between 2003 and 2013 in scientific journals. A search for published school climate instruments for secondary school students was made in three databases. Twelve articles meeting…

Purpose: This policy brief discusses validity and fairness issues that could arise when test-based information is used for making "high stakes" decisions at an individual level, such as, for the certification of teachers or other professionals, or when admitting students into higher education programs and colleges, or for making…

In this article, we consolidate and present in one place what is known about quality indicators for setting standards so that stakeholders may be able to recognize the signs of standard-setting quality. We use the context of setting standards to associate English language test scores with language proficiency descriptions such as those presented…