Traditionally Australian primary school teachers have been viewed as generalists responsible for instruction across all content areas. Adopting self-determination theory as a lens, the aim of the study was to explore the extent to which generalist primary school teachers are interested in becoming subject matter specialists. Questionnaire data…

Despite common conceptions, evidence on whether No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has had adverse effects for low achieving students is mixed. We hypothesize that the incentive to shift attention away from the lowest achieving students increases with the rigor of state standards. Using panel data from students in North Carolina, we exploit two natural…

We examined whether the General Factor of Personality (GFP) is related to the "g" factor of cognitive ability using data from the Vietnam Experience Study which randomly sampled 4462 Vietnam War veterans from a total sample of about five million Vietnam era army veterans. Exclusionary criteria included passing a fitness test, achieving a…

This article examines how international differences in age-grade distributions and grade effects contribute to science scores among 27 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. As shown in the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, countries vary substantially in the grade distribution of 15-year-olds. The costs…

We tested the hypothesis that highly structured course designs, which implement reading quizzes and/or extensive in-class active-learning activities and weekly practice exams, can lower failure rates in an introductory biology course for majors, compared with low-structure course designs that are based on lecturing and a few high-risk assessments.…

A method for calculating "standardized" grade equivalents for learning disabled students is criticized because it recreates some problems of the original mental age concept and has little to offer teachers or diagnostic personnel. (Author/CL)

Most researchers agree that psychological/educational tests are sensitive to multiple traits, implying the need for a multidimensional item response theory (MIRT). One limitation of applying a MIRT in practice is the difficulty in establishing equivalent scales of multiple traits. In this study, a new MIRT linking method was proposed and evaluated…

The author discusses the dangers of using grade equivalency scores to identify learning disabled students. Deficiencies include that grade equivalents invite misleading interpretations, assume that the learning rate is constant throughout the school year, and exaggerate the significance of small differences in performance. Standard scores are…

The arbitrary nature of growth trends in cognitive variables is illustrated. Two metrics, grade equivalent and item-response theory representations, both of which preserve the order of performance levels in test data, produced different pictures of cognitive growth, and differences were seen to arise from differences in the scaling models. (SLD)

The first of a series of quizzes on types of derived scores concerns interpreting grade-equivalent (GE) scores. The true-false items require a response about whether the stated interpretation of the GE score is sound. An answer key explains specific scoring methods. (CM)

Discusses the exact meaning and limitations of commonly used types of standardized test scores: grade equivalent scores; percentile ranks, and standard scores. (SR)

A procedure for checking the score equivalence of nearly identical editions of a test is described and illustrated with Scholastic Aptitude Test data. The procedure uses the standard error of equating and uses graphical representation of score conversion deviations from the identity function in standard error units. (SLD)

Examines the use of grade versus goal level reading material on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) progress-monitoring procedures. Students were administered CBM reading passage probes from both grade and goal level material. Rate of progress was indexed in each level of materials. Results indicate that the amount of progress observed varied as a…

Contends that there is a lack of understanding of the meaning of grade norms by the public, the critics in the press, and even many public school personnel. Points out that grade norms are not standards, but measures of the performance of the average student. (LLL)

Compared the observation of children's growth in reading using grade equivalents with that using the Rasch simultaneous vertical equating procedure. Results from equating 25 reading tests show that grade equivalents differ more between two different test forms than do ability measures obtained from the Rasch simultaneous vertical equating. (SLD)