Presents a study involving three sections of pre-calculus (n=181) at four-year college where partial credit scoring on multiple-choice questions was examined over an entire semester. Indicates that grades determined by partial credit scoring seemed more reflective of both the quantity and quality of student knowledge than grades determined by…

Introduces a new approach for partitioning test items into dimensionally distinct item clusters. The core of this approach is a new item-pair conditional-covariance-based proximity measure that can be used with hierarchical cluster analysis. The procedure can correctly classify, on average, over 90% of the items for correlations as high as 0.9.…

Examines behavioral differences of essay scorers who demonstrate different levels of proficiency. Compares three proficiency groups to identify differences in essay features considered, understandings of the scoring rubric, and decision-making procedures. Finds that scorers with different proficiency levels do not focus on different essay features…

An alternative strategy for computing factor scores was introduced and compared to a popular scoring procedure. The new strategy, which involves unit-weighted composites of standardized items with salient factor score coefficients, is shown superior to the common method. Implications of findings are discussed. (SLD)

Modified the three-parameter model to include an additional random effect for items nested within the same testlet. Fitted the new model to 86 testlets from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and compared standard parameters (discrimination, difficulty, and guessing) with those obtained through traditional modeling. Discusses the…

Provides an overview of the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC), a workshop series designed to encourage research on text retrieval for realistic applications by providing large test collections and uniform scoring procedures. Highlights include routing tasks; Chinese language retrieval; cross-language information retrieval; filtering; high…

This article gives a brief overview of the structure and purposes of rubrics; reviews the benefits of using rubrics as both teaching and grading tools; warns against approaches that limit the effectiveness of rubrics; and urges instructors to take simple steps toward ensuring the validity, reliability, and fairness of their rubrics. Tips for using…

Under a revised assessment system called EMRF, a four-tier rubric is used to evaluate students' work and is beneficial to the teachers as well as the students. It is carefully designed and its descriptors are available to the students also.

Counselor educators and students share an ethical accountability for the quality of service that these students will one day provide to their client populations. In this article, the author discusses how assessment can be understood as part of the contract educators make not only with their students, but also with the individuals they will…

Many studies of the United States voting have sought to explain why voter participation is declining. Recent research by Michael P. McDonald suggests that the much lamented "decline in voter participation" is an artifact of the way in which turnout rates have been measured. McDonald is an assistant professor of government and politics in…

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is the fifth in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) secondary longitudinal studies. The core research questions for HSLS:09 explore secondary to postsecondary transition plans and the evolution of those plans; the paths into and out of science, technology, engineering,…

This study describes a rubric supporting fast and reliable assessment of preservice teacher electronic portfolios. The assessment calls for raters to quickly scan a portfolio to gain an overall impression, then dichotomously score a large number of indicators (e.g., educational philosophy, educational technology use, imaginative use of…

Several recent education reform measures, including the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), couple school choice with accountability measures to allow parents of children in under-performing schools the opportunity to choose higher-performing schools. We use the introduction of NCLB in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to determine if…

While it is generally accepted that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an essential knowledge base for science teachers, educational researchers are not clear on how it develops. Previous researchers have suggested that classroom practice may play a significant role. Therefore, it is important to look at beginning teachers' PCK and its…

In an Angoff standard setting procedure, judges estimate the probability that a hypothetical randomly selected minimally competent candidate will answer correctly each item in the test. In many cases, these item performance estimates are made twice, with information shared with the panelists between estimates. Especially for long tests, this…