Amid the continued growth of online learning--and concerns about its quality--a number of different groups have moved to establish tools, such as rubrics and standards for online course quality. This paper highlights the development of the "Instructional Design Standards for Distance Learning" by the Association for Educational…

In this research note, the author checks for correlations between different dimensions in an analytic rubric used for scoring discussion performance. Highly correlated dimensions can be cause for concern that the different aspects of performance are not well defined or not adequately observed. The author's analysis showed some weak to moderate…

Taking a test improves memory for that tested information, a finding referred to as the testing effect. Multiple-choice tests tend to produce smaller testing effects than do cued-recall tests, and this result is largely attributed to the different processing that the two formats are assumed to induce. Specifically, it is generally assumed that the…

The purposes of this research are: 1) to compare two equalizing tests conducted with Hebara and Stocking Lord method; 2) to describe the characteristics of each equalizing test method using windows' IRTEQ program. This research employs a participatory approach as the data are collected through questionnaires based on the National Examination…

In response to research demonstrating that Tennessee Extension agents desired a performance appraisal system that better reflected their jobs and provided for appraisers' professional development, a committee of University of Tennessee and Tennessee State University personnel undertook a 2-year initiative to revise the performance appraisal…

This study investigates the effect of several design and administration choices on item exposure and person/item parameter recovery under a multistage test (MST) design. In a simulation study, we examine whether number-correct (NC) or item response theory (IRT) methods are differentially effective at routing students to the correct next stage(s)…

A rubric is both an assessment and an evaluation tool that is widely adopted in education. However, little is known about good and bad practices in rubrics by either students or educators in nursing education, as well as in Asian higher education in general. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the views of students and educators on…

Background: Stakeholders' interpretations of the findings of large-scale educational assessments can influence important decisions. In the context of educational assessment, standard-setting remains an especially critical element, because it is complex and largely unstandardized. Instruments established by means of standard-setting procedures such…

Examinees' performances are assessed using a wide variety of different techniques. Multiple-choice (MC) tests are among the most frequently used ones. Nearly, all standardized achievement tests make use of MC test items and there is a variety of ways to score these tests. The study compares number right and liberal scoring (SAC) methods. Mixed…

This article provides a validation framework for research on the development and use of science Learning Progressions (LPs). The framework describes how evidence from various sources can be used to establish an interpretive argument and a validity argument at five stages of LP research--development, scoring, generalisation, extrapolation, and use.…

Background: Children's spellings are often scored as correct or incorrect, but other measures may be better predictors of later spelling performance. Method: We examined seven measures of spelling in Reception Year and Year 1 (5-6 years old) as predictors of performance on a standardised spelling test in Year 2 (age 7). Results: Correctness was…

Standardisation is a procedure used by Awarding Organisations to maximise marking reliability, by teaching examiners to consistently judge scripts using a mark scheme. However, research shows that people are better at comparing two objects than judging each object individually. Consequently, Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR, a UK awarding…

This article provides a validation framework for research on the development and use of science Learning Progressions (LPs). The framework describes how evidence from various sources can be used to establish an interpretive argument and a validity argument at five stages of LP research--development, scoring, generalisation, extrapolation, and use.…

Educators use various statistical techniques to explain relationships between latent and observable variables. One way to model these relationships is to use Bayesian networks as a scoring model. However, adjusting the conditional probability tables (CPT-parameters) to fit a set of observations is still a challenge when using Bayesian networks. A…

Recent research in the areas of second language testing and learner corpus research has provided increased insight into linguistic features of various score levels and into the meaning of a test score (Cushing, 2017; Knoch & Chapelle, 2018). However, language testing researchers have asserted the need to select linguistic features that are…