Middle school math placement and progression are topics that are part of an active policy and practice discussion in California and elsewhere. Beginning in the 2008/09 school year, California's State Board of Education recommended that students complete algebra I by the end of grade 8. Between 2003 and 2009 the proportion of grade 8 students…

In this paper, we show that the design and decentralized, school-based scoring of New York's high school exit exams--the Regents Examinations--led to the systematic manipulation of test sores just below important proficiency cutoffs. Our estimates suggest that teachers inflate approximately 40 percent of test scores near the proficiency cutoffs.…

This study examined the relationship between school mobility for Colorado students in foster care and educational attainment outcomes, specifically earning high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma (e.g., through examination such as a GED), or exiting the K-12 system without a credential. Multinomial logistic regression was utilized…

Over several years, Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation (CPCSC) schools have dedicated significant professional development hours and time to develop Essential Learnings (ELs) along with proficiency scales that could guide the content of classroom assessments used to determine student mastery. This report presents findings from statistical…

This article presents "The Two Children Problem," published by Martin Gardner, who wrote a famous and widely-read math puzzle column in the magazine "Scientific American," and a problem presented by puzzler Gary Foshee. This paper explains the paradox of Problems 2 and 3 and many other variations of the theme. Then the authors…

People consider alternative causes when deciding whether a cause is responsible for an effect (diagnostic inference) but appear to neglect them when deciding whether an effect will occur (predictive inference). Five experiments were conducted to test a 2-part explanation of this phenomenon: namely, (a) that people interpret standard predictive…

The sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) is a common method for terminating item response theory (IRT)-based adaptive classification tests. To decide whether a classification test should stop, the SPRT compares a simple log-likelihood ratio, based on the classification bound separating two categories, to prespecified critical values. As has…

The publishers of the Major Field Test in Business (MFT-B), an assessment of learning instrument, provide a list of institutions utilizing the instrument and a table that allows for comparison of local MFT-B mean scores to those of other institutions. The absence of information regarding the comparison group's characteristics limits the validity…

Real-world phenomena simulation models, which can be used to engage middle-school students with probability, are described. Links to R instructional material and easy-to-use code are provided to facilitate implementation in the classroom.

This is an activity for younger learners in which the concepts of relative frequency and probability are explored, illustrating how a creative, non-transmission teaching approach using bottle tops can enable students to develop their understanding in an engaging fashion and at almost no cost.

Problems teaching probability in Tonga (in the South Pacific) led to the question how language and culture affect the understanding of probability and uncertainty. The research uses a discursive approach to find the endorsed narratives which underlie Tongans' reasoning in situations of uncertainty. I aim to justify the claim that the Tongan…

This study extends current research by organizing information about students' expectancy-value achievement motivation, in a way that helps parents and teachers identify specific entry points to encourage and support students' science aspirations. This study uses latent class analysis to describe underlying differences in ability beliefs, task…

Building on common assumptions in theories of interest and mathematics education, this experimental study examined the effect of context personalization based on individual preferences, group personalization, and example choice with preselected popular examples on middle school students' situational interest and performance in mathematics.…

Because of their efficiency and ability to keep many other factors constant, twin studies have a special appeal for investigators. Just as with any teaching dataset, a "matched-sets" dataset used to illustrate a statistical model should be compelling, still relevant, and valid. Indeed, such a "model dataset" should meet the…

In this brief report, we examine whether students' (N = 230) willingness to help individuals in distress (altruism) would be augmented after viewing Secure Attachment Messages (SAM) during lecture in a college racism course. Students were presented with SAM in alternating weeks as part of the PowerPoint presentation slides. In each of the weeks,…