Lord (1980) proposed formulas that provide direct relationships between IRT discrimination and difficulty parameters and conventional item statistics. The purpose of the present study was to determine the robustness of the formulas beyond the initial and restrictive conditions identified by Lord. Simulation and real achievement data were employed.…

This study investigates instructors' perceptions about strengths and weaknesses of a student ratings instrument employed in their university. The sample consisted of 357 instructors in a major Canadian university where each term students are required to complete an evaluation at the end of every course. Qualitative analyses of their written…

This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1-6. The specific purposes of the results reported here were to identify and quantify the assessment techniques suggested for the selections that contain scientific content, to show how the assessments differ by grade, to evaluate the nature and quality…

The Bookmark standard-setting procedure was developed to address the perceived problems with the most popular method for setting cut-scores: the Angoff procedure (Angoff, 1971). The purposes of this article are to review the Bookmark procedure and evaluate it in terms of Berk's (1986) criteria for evaluating cut-score setting methods. The…

Evaluates the equivalence of translated achievement tests administered to 4,400 English- and French-speaking sixth-graders. Items displaying differential item functioning were flagged using three statistical methods; results were relatively consistent across methods, but not identical. Substantive review of French items via back-translation to…

The purpose of this article is to promote an increased awareness of the processes for setting cut-scores for complex performance assessments by (a) describing the Analytic Judgment Method (AJM) for setting cut-scores, and (b) critically evaluating the technical adequacy and practicability of the AJM by focusing on one investigation where the AJM…

A former editor of this journal, 1969-72, selects an article from his tenure that stands as an outstanding example of evaluation research. The article selected describes the comprehensive evaluation of the Individually Prescribed Instruction Project in mathematics in three Alberta elementary schools. The project was evaluated via classroom…

Comments on the educational quality indicators projects undertaken by Alberta school districts, noting their dependence on process-product research; inclusion of social and affective aspects of education; use of provincial achievement tests as indicators; and emphases on accountability, teacher collaboration, and professional development. (SV)

Explores the consequences of using complex test-and-item analysis in a large-scale testing situation that historically has used simple number-right scoring. When the two types of scoring were used with high school graduation exams in British Columbia, results were similar in terms of mean, standard deviation, error of estimation, and correlation…

Examines teachers' evaluations by principals over a 10-year period to compare criteria used and determine whether movement toward research-based criteria exists. Finds evaluations to be neither professional nor bureaucratic, but rather serving ritualistic purposes of little help to teachers' professional improvement or to personnel decision…

Describes a multifaceted study that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches to educational research to investigate the behaviors and perceptions of preservice teachers as they assessed the work of an imaginary eighth grader. Summarizes findings and suggests that the mixed-methods model contributes new understandings not possible with…

The extent to which teacher expectations, disconfirming information, and parental involvement affect teacher judgments was examined among 147 Canadian preservice teachers who assessed an imaginary eighth grader's progress over a 10-week period. The student's final grade was significantly affected by teacher expectations based on socioeconomic…

An account of three researchers' efforts to make sense of preservice teachers' assessment practices reveals how methodologically diverse investigations emanated from the context of a single study. Developments, findings, and warrants that characterize this inquiry are presented, as well as arguments describing this study as exploratory,…

As part of an undergraduate course, 147 teacher candidates graded components of an imaginary eighth grader's language-arts portfolio over a 10-week period and reported a final grade. These grades and manipulated variables for student background and academic progress were used to generate a model in which student background, growth, and actual…

As part of Alberta's provincial initiative, teacher-researchers in two Calgary school districts developed and field-tested quality indicators for assessment of student artwork and mathematical problem solving. The resulting qualitative materials depend on informed professional judgment and student involvement in self-assessment; celebrate…