The purpose of this study is to introduce and evaluate a method for generating reading comprehension items using template-based automatic item generation. To begin, we describe a new model for generating reading comprehension items called the text analysis cognitive model assessing inferential skills across different reading passages. Next, the…

The State NAEP program only reports the mean achievement estimate of a subgroup within a given state if it samples at least 62 students who identify with the subgroup. Since some subgroups of students constitute small proportions of certain states' general student populations, these low-incidence groups of students are seldom sufficiently sampled…

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously except in Teaching mathematics to students with hearing loss requires special attention and care. Using materials in mathematics education is crucial in helping students concretize abstract concepts and relationships, create schemas related to the taught…

As more states move to universal computer-based assessments, an emergent issue concerns the effect that device type might have on student results. Although, several research studies have explored device effects, most of these studies focused on the differences between tablets and desktops/laptops. In the current study, we distinguish between…

Several large scale assessments include student, teacher, and school background questionnaires. Results from such questionnaires can be reported for each item separately, or as indices based on aggregation of multiple items into a scale. Interpreting scale scores is not always an easy task though. In disseminating results of achievement tests, one…

Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 incident, basic education institutions have faced different challenges in their teaching-learning activities. Particularly conducting assessments remotely during COVID-19 has posed extraordinary challenges for basic education institutions owing to lack of preparation superimposed with the inherent problems of…

Over the last two decades, there has been renewed interest in formative assessment, in large part due to the increasing pressures and prevalence of "high stakes" summative assessments. As states try to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, teachers and administrators are realizing that formative assessment offers an…

Successful school reform is dependent on the quality of decisions made by educational leaders. In such decision making, educational leaders are charged with using sound research findings as the basis for choosing school reform initiatives. As part of the debate regarding the usability of various evaluative research designs in providing information…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of dimensionality, common-item set format, and different scale linking methods on preserving equity property with mixed-format test equating. Item response theory (IRT) true-score equating (TSE) and IRT observed-score equating (OSE) methods were used under common-item nonequivalent groups design.…

Evaluators have an obligation to present clearly the results of their evaluative efforts. Traditionally, such presentations showcase formal written and oral reports, with dispassionate language and graphs, tables, quotes, and vignettes. These traditional forms do not reach all audiences nor are they likely to include the most powerful presentation…

"Co-design"--including youth development staff along with curriculum designers--is the key to developing an effective program that is both scalable and sustainable. This article describes Build IT, a two-year afterschool and summer curriculum designed to help middle school girls develop fluency in information technology (IT), interest in…

There is a growing body of research on the validity and reliability of value-added measures, but most of this research has focused on elementary grades. Driven by several federal initiatives such as Race to the Top, Teacher Incentive Fund, and ESEA waivers, however, many states have incorporated value-added measures into the evaluations not only…

The primary aim of the Middle School Intervention Project (MSIP) is to evaluate the impact of a multi-component intervention for struggling adolescent readers on reading outcomes. The intervention consists of: (1) targeted, Tier 2 reading and (2) school engagement interventions, and (3) data-based-decision-making (DBDM) teams to review and act on…

Several instruments have been developed to gauge student perceptions of their classroom environment as greater attention has been given to the relationship between student achievement and student perceptions. One widely used instrument to assess those perceptions is the Classroom Environment Scale (CES), a 90-item measure for secondary level…

The structure of two-tier testing is such that the first tier consists of a multiple-choice question and the second tier requires justifications for choices of answers made in the first tier. This study aims to evaluate two-tier tasks in "proportion" in terms of students' capacity to write and select justifications and to examine the effect of…