This Assessment News article examines the role of measurement error in standardised tests and what it means for progress measures. Charles Darr explains that standardised test scores and the progress trajectories we infer from them do not necessarily reflect a student's true achievement level. Measurement error is the normal day-to-day variation…

Georgia adopted science standards encouraging teachers to use inquiry-based instruction in science instruction in 2016 to improve science exam scores. The problem was a lack of improvement in science exam scores in middle school and high school students in a small rural school district in South Georgia since inquiry-based standards have been put…

In this research report, we describe a study to map the scores of the "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test to the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB). The TOEFL Essentials test is a four-skills assessment of foundational English language skills and communication abilities in academic and general (daily life) contexts. At the time of writing this…

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of school-based mindfulness training on learning burnout of Chinese middle school students and the mediating role of psychological resilience between dispositional mindfulness and learning burnout. A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with repeated measurement analysis, in which 62…

We consider the problem of bias arising from conditioning on a post-outcome collider. We illustrate this with reference to Elwert and Winship (2014) but we go beyond their study to investigate the extent to which inverse probability weighting might offer solutions. We use linear models to derive expressions for the bias arising in different kinds…

This study seeks to explore and understand the Bhutanese secondary school teacher's perception of increased Continuous Formative Assessment (CFA) weightings and the associated opportunities and challenges. Grounded on pragmatism, this study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The quantitative and qualitative data were…

Over the past 23 years, the national average for reading achievement among learners has ranked below grade level (Learned et al., 2019). The research focus was to understand why struggling readers' reading skills improved. Two research questions, two hypotheses, and two null hypotheses were developed for this study. No participants participated in…

In 2016, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released an analysis of school policies regarding Advanced Placement (AP) credit. Despite being one of the few ways students could seek to graduate in fewer than four years, PPI discovered that the vast majority of the nation's top schools restricted students from applying AP coursework toward degree…

This study was conducted to see if the engagement variables from the "TummySafe 2022" online course as well as the participants' demographic variables were positively correlated with the "TummySafe" certification exam score. The study examined factors that explained participants' exam performance. The results indicated that…

Quantitative measures of systematic differences in OSCE scoring across examiners (often termed examiner stringency) can threaten the validity of examination outcomes. Such effects are usually conceptualised and operationalised based solely on checklist/domain scores in a station, and global grades are not often used in this type of analysis. In…

Institutions of higher education have relied heavily on quality assurance mechanisms such as accreditation to ensure programs adhere to the most current standards. Simultaneously, conversations alluding to the impact of organizational culture have also increased, leaving many to question if relationships exist between educational environments,…

As evidence from evaluation and experimental studies continue to influence decision and policymaking, applied researchers and practitioners require tools to derive valid and credible inferences. Over the past several decades, research in causal inference has progressed with the development and application of propensity scores. Since their…

The study was proposed to find out the effect of frequent testing on students' academic achievement at undergraduate level. In this study, quasi-experimental pretest post-test control group design was used. Two intact groups, control (28) and experimental (51) were selected that were undergone a Research Methods course at undergraduate level. Two…

Latent profile analysis (LPA) identifies heterogeneous subgroups based on continuous indicators that represent different dimensions. It is a common practice to measure each dimension using items, create composite or factor scores for each dimension, and use these scores as indicators of profiles in LPA. In this case, measurement models for…

This study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a low-dose mindfulness program with student-athletes (SA) at a sport academy in the USA. First, SAs were introduced to mindfulness in their health class with conceptual lessons and guided meditations from the Headspace 'Guide to Meditation' series. Following each episode, SAs reflected on…