Recent research into university ranking methodologies uncovered several methodological problems among the systems currently in vogue. One of these is the discrepancy between the nominal and attained weights. The problem is the summation of unstandardized indicators for the total scores used in ranking. It is demonstrated that weight discrepancy…

The grades K-2 Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) Reading Assessment (FRA) consists of computer-adaptive alphabetic and oral language screening tasks that provide a Probability of Literacy Success (PLS) linked to grade-level performance (i.e., the 40th percentile) on the word reading (in kindergarten) or reading comprehension (in grades…

A review of the literature pertaining to the effect and influence that interim assessments have on student achievement lacks quantitative data to determine the efficiency of their use in the classroom as a school reform tool. This study examined the strength and the direction of the relationships between interim pre and posttest assessments in…

Disparities in educational outcomes exist between students in rural areas as compared to students in urban settings. While there is some evidence that these rural disparities are present in eastern Europe, little is known about young peoples' lives in the rural areas of this region. This paper presents an analysis of science achievement by…

We investigated various structural models of phonological processing and the relationship of phonological processing abilities to basic reading. Data were collected on 116 kindergarten and first grade students. The specific ability model, which included phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid automatized naming as separate…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) scores and the Graduation rate of college students attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Using a Regressional analysis that tested the predictability of the Reading, Writing, and Mathematics scores on the THEA…

This paper investigates whether performance in progressive assessment necessarily influences the outcome in the end-of-semester final examination using the experience of an introductory postgraduate statistics course at a large Australian university. The average score on progressive assessments was higher than that of the final examination.…

It has been hypothesized that students with low self-efficacy will struggle with complex reading tasks in assessment situations. In this study we examined whether perceived reading self-efficacy and reading task value uniquely predicted reading comprehension scores in two different item formats in a sample of fifth-grade students. Results showed…

The purpose of this study was to test whether the web version is an alternative to the paper version of the short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Two studies were conducted. Study 1 used crossover self-controlled trials with 80 participants to compare the web and paper versions and to determine…

This report describes the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in "Race to the Top." The authors estimated: (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…

This study investigated the relationship between the use of a three-dimensional Virtual Reality Learning Environment for Field Trip (3DVLE[subscript (ft)]) system and the achievement levels of senior high school earth science students. The 3DVLE[subscript (ft)] system was presented in two separate formats: Teacher Demonstrated Based and Student…

Two methods of showing the ability of high school grades (high school grade point averages) and SAT scores to predict cumulative grades in different types of college courses were evaluated in a sample of 26 colleges. Each college contributed data from three cohorts of entering freshmen, and each cohort was followed for at least four years.…

The aim of the UK National Literacy Strategy is to raise standards in literacy. Strong evidence for its success has, however, been lacking: most of the available data comes from performance on tests administered in schools or from Office for Standards in Education reports and is vulnerable to suggestions of bias. An opportunistic analysis of data…

The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) is one of the most widely used social desirability scales. The authors conducted a reliability generalization study to examine the typical reliability coefficients of BIDR scores and explored factors that explained the variability of reliability estimates across studies. The results indicated…

This study examined the nature and impact of dyadic perfectionism over a 3-month interval within a sample of 116 college students who were currently involved in an intimate heterosexual relationship. Dyadic perfectionism scores were stable and correlated as expected with scores on concurrent measures of adult attachment orientations and…