This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) examination participation and performance results in Texas and the United States for the 2018-19 school year. The results are for public and nonpublic schools combined and are presented by race/ethnicity and gender. [For "Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Examination Results in…

Assessing Opportunities to Learn (OTL) implies the measurement of different aspects of the curricular implementation in the classrooms, such as the contents that the teacher selects for the course and the time of exposure and the frequency of the tasks proposed. Based on recent studies that demonstrate the influence of this curricular dimension on…

This report examines one component of the current school accountability system--learning gains. We find that learning gain percentages are affected by a variety of factors including starting achievement level, socioeconomic status, and English language learner status when the current definition of learning gains is used. Hence, we propose a new…

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have shown considerable improvements in student achievement over the last 20 years, but concerns about unequal educational opportunities across different communities in the city continues to be a pressing issue. The North Lawndale Cluster Initiative (NLCI) sought to improve academic achievement and educational…

This study investigated the impact of a computer-adaptive reading program, Waterford Early Learning (WEL), in an elementary school in Indiana. The study investigated how educational technology, specifically computer-assisted instruction (CAI), would impact the literacy scores of kindergarten students when paired with traditional instruction:…

Using rich longitudinal data from one of the largest teacher education programs in Texas, we examine the measurement of pre-service teacher (PST) quality and its relationship with entry into the K-12 public school teacher workforce. Drawing on rubric-based observations of PSTs during clinical teaching, we find that little of the variation in…

In the lead article, Davenport, Davison, Liou, & Love demonstrate the relationship among homogeneity, internal consistency, and coefficient alpha, and also distinguish among them. These distinctions are important because too often coefficient alpha--a reliability coefficient--is interpreted as an index of homogeneity or internal consistency.…

Miller et al. have challenged the findings of our two previous studies, based largely on the assumption that our findings are biased due to the clinical sample used. However, they fail to address the primary tenet of our studies, namely, that clinicians will obtain different scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) depending on…

This article provides a brief overview and comparison of three matching approaches in forming comparable groups for a study comparing test administration modes (i.e., computer-based tests [CBT] and paper-and-pencil tests [PPT]): (a) a propensity score matching approach proposed in this article, (b) the propensity score matching approach used by…

Creativity is increasingly viewed as an important 21st century skill that needs to be taught in schools. This emphasis on creativity is often reflected by having students engage in open-ended, project based activities and assignments. A key challenge faced by educators is how such assignments are to be evaluated. An in-depth review of existing…

Criterion-related profile analysis (CPA) can be used to assess whether subscores of a test or test battery account for more criterion variance than does a single total score. Application of CPA to subscore evaluation is described, compared to alternative procedures, and illustrated using SAT data. Considerations other than validity and reliability…

Many states have implemented, or are implementing, accountability systems for schools and educators that incorporate test-based indicators. There is substantial disagreement on the merits of this trend, but the general consensus appears to be that value-added scores or median (mean) growth percentiles contain useful information with respect to…

Because of difficulties with neuropsychological assessments for dementia in people with learning disabilities, professionals in clinical practice have relied heavily on carer interviews, one of the most widely used being the "Dementia Questionnaire for People with Learning Disabilities" (DLD-Evenhuis et al. 2006 "Dementia…

To date, rater accuracy when using Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) has been evaluated by comparing DBR-derived data to scores yielded through systematic direct observation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an alternative method for establishing comparison scores using expert-completed DBR alongside best practices in consensus building…

Admission decisions frequently rely on multiple assessments. As a consequence, it is important to explore rational approaches to combine the information from different educational tests. For example, U.S. graduate schools usually receive both TOEFL iBT® scores and GRE® General scores of foreign applicants for admission; however, little guidance…