Large-scale assessments (LSAs) use Mislevy's "plausible value" (PV) approach to relate student proficiency to noncognitive variables administered in a background questionnaire. This method requires background variables to be completely observed, a requirement that is seldom fulfilled. In this article, we evaluate and compare the…

Purpose: This policy brief, the third in the AERI-NEPC eBrief series "Understanding validity issues around the world", discusses validity issues surrounding International Large Scale Assessment (ILSA) programs. ILSA programs, such as the well-known Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International…

Properly defining a population ensures that resources, such as funding and access, meet the needs, expectations, and intended outcomes for those represented. Ethical concerns arise when a target population, such as the English Language Learner population, is defined in numerous yet incomplete ways, and differently in research and in state policies…

The Education Trust research report "Stuck Schools" suggests a framework for identifying chronically low-performing schools in need of turnaround. The study uses Maryland and Indiana to show that some low-performing schools make progress while others remain stagnant. The report has four serious problems of reliability and validity,…

Identifies shortcomings of single equation models of educational achievement, including that they have omitted relevant variables. Considers three models of educational achievement--one using cross-sectional data; one using pre- and post measures of achievement; and one using more complete panel data. (Author/DB)

The organization of data at the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is undergoing a significant transition from a system designed only for national assessment purposes to one designed both for assessment and a variety of academic research interests. The advent of NAEP public-use data files opens up many possibilities for those who…

Qualitative research has a limited role in the total research effort in sport pedagogy. This article discusses problems and limitations of qualitative research. Topics include trustworthiness of data, oversimplified comparisons between quantitative and qualitative research, and appropriate contexts for using qualitative research as the method of…

Problems associated with combining observations taken from intact classrooms were examined. Clarification of basic entities to be studied was a critical step in research planning. Classroom observers usually study instructional arrangements and other classroom phenomena. The author used activity structure and its component activity segments as the…

Some issues in defining dropouts and reporting information about them are explored, with reference to the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. There has not been any uniform national count of how many students leave school, and no commonly accepted definition has been developed that allows a number to…

Problems encountered in large-scale educational evaluations are discussed using the evaluation of the Emergency School Aid Act as an example. This extensive article focuses primarily on methodological issues. (JKS)

Guidelines for the implementation of qualitative methods in special education research are offered, addressing rigor, sample selection, data collection, and data management/analysis. Five possible pitfalls are identified, including the quantitative-qualitative methods debate, premature data collection, the tendency to use a linear procedural…

This study used species diversity indices developed in ecology as a measure of socioethnic diversity, and compared them to Coleman's Index of Segregation. The twelve indices were Simpson's Concentration Index ("ell"), Simpson's Index of Diversity, Hurlbert's Probability of Interspecific Encounter (PIE), Simpson's Probability of…

Using research findings and statistics to support a policy argument often leads to misinterpretations and exaggerations of public school performance. Two experts illustrate this point by discussing examples of distorted high school drop-out rates, student performance on standardized tests, and international comparisons of U.S. and Japanese…

In 1990, Milwaukee (Wisconsin) became the site of the first publicly funded school-choice program providing low-income parents with vouchers that could be used to send their children to secular, private schools. An evaluation of Milwaukee's school-choice experiment was conducted by a team of researchers, headed by John Witte at the University of…

Existing qualitative studies of school principals suffer from procedural or conceptual shortcomings that result in failure to clarify the principal's instructional role. This paper describes the methodology and procedures of a year-long, multimethod, multilevel field study of 12 school principals. First, the background for the study (the…