Recent educational accountability efforts have married student assessments with reform mandates and sanctions. As a result, students--beginning in early elementary grades--are feeling the pressures of this new era of high-stakes accountability. This article chronicles a story of the consequences of high-stakes testing on a father and his son.…

The commentaries on my article contain a number of points with which I disagree but also several with which I agree. For example, I continue to believe that the existence of many cases in which between-person variability does not increase with age indicates that greater variance with increased age is not inevitable among healthy individuals up to…

Ruscio et al. (Ruscio, Seaman, D'Oriano, Stremlo, & Mahalchik, this issue) write of a thing with which scientists and scholars are all too familiar, the assessment of published research and of its authors. The author was startled to discover how little the agenda of the paper seems to engage with factors one relies on for salary and promotion…

E. Brandstatter, G. Gigerenzer, and R. Hertwig (2006) contended that their priority heuristic, a type of lexicographic semiorder model, is more accurate than cumulative prospect theory (CPT) or transfer of attention exchange (TAX) models in describing risky decisions. However, there are 4 problems with their argument. First, their heuristic is not…

This article reflects on key methodological issues emerging from children and young people's involvement in data analysis processes. We outline a pragmatic framework illustrating different approaches to engaging children, using two case studies of children's experiences of participating in data analysis. The article highlights methods of…

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2007 Call for Proposals points out the need for researchers in education to look beyond their usual sources to other fields that have extensive experience in relevant theories and methods. In transitioning from a response to AERA's Call for Proposals to the text of these articles on Assessing…

Some of the methodological problems in analyzing and reporting qualitative data are addressed, and some solutions based on recent experiences in conducting several qualitative studies are proposed. The following are some guidelines for implementing an intuitive approach to analyzing and reporting qualitative data: (1) use a team of evaluators; (2)…

Compares qualitative and quantitative data, identifies common qualitative methods, describes a step-by-step process for gathering and analyzing qualitative data, and discusses two applications of the process to Extension. (Author)

Contends that multivariate statistical analyses should be studied and practiced more extensively. Gives several reasons for doing multivariate analysis and discusses two common errors in statistical analysis. Presents examples of how single multivariate analysis can produce different results than do separate univariate analyses and illustrates…

Describes and discusses how systematic formative evaluation can be applied to different types of human performance technology (HPT) interventions. Three components of evaluation are explained, six stages of formative evaluation are described, five types of formative evaluation are explained, and strategies for micro analysis of formative data on…

Superintendents' performance evaluations continue to be too frequently conducted through a highly informal, subjective process, based more on impressions than data. Several states require school boards to use student performance data in evaluating their superintendents. Student achievement data, focusing on continuous improvement, should certainly…

Formative feedback systems live at the heart of systemic school improvement efforts. Without accurate and timely information on the results of intended interventions, school leaders and teachers fly blind in their efforts to link what they expect to what actually happens in their schools. This paper draws on the results of a 5-year National…

Currently, in the field of guidance, relevant stakeholders including guidance practitioners, educators and policy makers, have identified progression for adults in education and employment as one of the key outcomes of educational guidance. Lifelong guidance is now inextricably linked with lifelong learning as a mechanism to enhance individual…

Discusses five basic issues that teachers should address as they begin an action research project: (1) the main question to be answered; (2) relevant data; (3) specific data, and its collection method; (4) data analysis; and (5) interpretations or implications to be drawn from the data. (RS)

Responds to criticism by Levy, Wong, Benbenisty, and Mattaini (1996) of Rubin and Knox's (1996) article (CG 548 550) concerning data analysis in single-case evaluations. Refutes assertions that the intention of the article was to reject all single-case methodology. The intention was to emphasize the limitations inherent in applying such methods in…