Teacher professional development is complex, and despite evidence from randomised controlled trials about key factors influencing this process, there is little research about how abilities prior to initial teacher training (ITT) influence early classroom practice. In England, many schools face teacher recruitment and retention challenges and…

Although problem-based learning (PBL) has been widely used in medical schools, few studies have attended to the assessment of PBL processes using validated instruments. This study examined reliability and validity for an instrument assessing PBL performance in four domains: Problem Solving, Use of Information, Group Process, and Professionalism.…

This article reports on a study conducted as part of a larger investigation of the predictive validity of the Test de Français Laval-Montreal (TFLM), a high-stakes French language test used for admission and placement purposes for Teacher-Training Programs (TTPs) in major francophone universities in Canada (Schmitt, 2015). The objective of this…

Classroom observations are increasingly common in education policies as a means to assess the quality of teachers and/or education programs for purposes of making high-stakes decisions. This article considers one policy, the Head Start Designation Renewal System (DRS), which involves classroom observations to assess the quality of Head Start…

In response to the demand for increased accountability within the university classroom, there have been calls for a new generation of rubrics that effectively assess students' competence in several areas, including public speaking. This article describes the development, test, and factor analyses of the Public Speaking Competence Rubric (PSCR), an…

The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) test is a useful assessment and training tool for persons with developmental disabilities. The present study assessed the predictive validity of the ABLA test with 16 children diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, eight who performed at ABLA Level 4 and eight who performed at ABLA Level 6.…

Newton's article (2010) makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it is transatlantic, bringing together literatures that have been dealing with similar problems, using sometimes different methods and certainly with distinctive educational, cultural perspectives. He points out that neither of these literatures has all of the…

This nonexperimental survey research investigated whether enrollment, location, expenditures, percentage of free and reduced lunch and percentage of minority students influenced Georgia's superintendent and board chairperson satisfaction. In addition, this study investigated whether respondents' satisfaction could predict student achievement.…

Recent scholars have dismissed the utility of self-esteem as well as programs designed to improve it. The authors challenge these contentions on conceptual, methodological, and empirical grounds. They begin by proposing that the scope of recent analyses has been overly narrow and should be broadened to include specific as well as global…

Investigates the validity of the receiver apprehension test, determining the degree to which it (1) correlates with a different measure of trait listening anxiety, (2) predicts specific state anxiety responses to listening tasks, and (3) is stable over time. (JMF)

The "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" of the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education are intended to provide a comprehensive basis for evaluating tests. This digest identifies key standards applicable to most test…

A review of court cases, involving the use of various standardized tests, highlights the kinds of test validity and the interpretation by the courts of test fairness in setting personnel selection standards. Guidelines established by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are shown to support the use of predictive validity in…

This module, the fourth of four units about vocational competency measurement, is module 20 in the Vocational Education Curriculum Specialist series. The purpose stated for the document is to help in the validation of a competency test after it has been developed, in the determination of how test results will be reported, and in the consideration…

Questions the legality of preventive detention of those termed dangerous; what are their rights and what are conditions of detention. (IR)