Purpose: To explore the utility of time-interval analysis for documenting the reliability of coding social communication performance of children in classroom settings. Of particular interest was finding a method for determining whether independent observers could reliably judge both occurrence and duration of ongoing behavioral dimensions for…

The Internet is a significant information resource for students due to the ease of access it allows to a vast amount of information. As the quality of the information on the Internet varies, it is important that students are able to evaluate such information critically. The aim of the study was to investigate how students evaluate Internet sources…

Social avoidance is a core phenotypic characteristic of fragile X syndrome (FXS) that has critical cognitive and social consequences. However, no study has examined modulation of multiple social avoidant behaviors in children with FXS. In the current study, we introduce the "Social Approach Scale" (SAS), an observation scale that includes physical…

Background: Attaining a developmentally sensitive nosology for preschool disruptive behavior requires characterization of the features that distinguish it from the normative misbehavior of this developmental period. We hypothesize that "quality of behavior and its pervasiveness across contexts" are critical dimensions for clinical discrimination…

This book is about the Computer Clubhouse--the idea and the place--that inspires youth to think about themselves as competent, creative, and critical learners. So much of the social life of young people has moved online and participation in the digital public has become an essential part of youth identities. The Computer Clubhouse makes an…

The objective of this study was to determine the degree to which recommendations for passing scores, calculated on the basis of a traditional standard-setting methodology, might be affected by the mode (paper versus computer-screen prints) in which test items were presented to standard setting panelists. Results were based on the judgments of 31…

Similarity plays a central role in cognitive theories. Research has demonstrated that the similarity of a pair increases with its commonalities and decreases with its differences. These common and distinctive elements can take the form of parts of objects, relations between parts of properties of whole objects. Previous work has been unable to…

Generalizability theory (G-theory) and many-facet Rasch measurement (Rasch) manage the variability inherent when raters rate examinees on test items. The purpose of G-theory is to estimate test reliability in a raw score metric. Unadjusted examinee raw scores are reported as measures. A variance component is estimated for the examinee…

The purpose of this study was to examine rater, domain, and gender influences on the assessed quality of student writing using weighted and unweighted scores. Twenty rates were randomly selected from a group of 87 operational raters contracted to rate essays as part of the 1993 field test of the Georgia High School Writing Test. All of the raters…

The purpose of this study was to describe the Rasch model for measurement and apply the model to examine the relationship between raters, domains of written compositions, and student writing ability. Twenty raters were randomly selected from a group of 87 operational raters contracted to rate essays as part of the 1993 field test of the Georgia…

This paper has two aims, each bearing on recent developments in evaluation policy. The first is to summarize a report presented in 1980 to the United States Congress and Department of Education, concerning evaluation policy and practices at the national, state, and local levels of government. The second aim is to link some of the United States…

This report presents the results of a yearlong study of the process of evaluation use in a large city school district. Based on extensive naturalistic data-gathering, the research documents how local school administrators use evaluation information generated by the district's research and evaluation unit. The significance of the research is the…

An overview of the 1988-89 pilot study and 1989-90 field test for the Georgia Media Specialist Evaluation Program is provided. Development of an annual evaluation program for media specialists began in 1987 with the formation of an advisory committee of media specialists, administrators, university personnel, and Georgia Education Department…

Issues surrounding the testing and evaluation of speaking in Singapore secondary schools are examined, including the questions of what skills and knowledge a speech evaluator should possess and what model of spoken knowledge--Received Pronunciation (RP) or Singapore English--should be provided. Oral tests, developed for the English language…

A protocol for analyzing the activity structure of a classroom lesson was developed and field tested. The protocol can be completed on site by a person serving as both observer and analyst. Validity of the protocol was established by reference to the large body of qualitative research on activity structure and the analysis of teaching. The…