This study tested how 53 kindergarteners' expressions of depth of vocabulary knowledge and use in novel contexts were related to in-context and out-of-context test formats for 16 target words. Applying multilevel, multi-categorical Logit to all 1,696 test item responses, the authors found that kindergarteners were more likely to express deep…

Most of the world is multilingual--multilingual at the national level (policies), at the community and family level (practices), and at the individual level (cognitive)--and each of these has implications for teaching and learning. Yet, at present, most reading decisions are not based on empirical research of how children learn to read in…

Geographic literacy could be defined as the competence of turning understanding and comprehension of geographical knowledge into a skill because literacy consists of solving problems, reasoning, critical and creative thinking processes. Today, in order to impart literacy skills to individuals, teachers should first have these skills. It is…

Of all the approaches to collecting data in the social sciences, the administration of questionnaires to respondents is among the most prevalent. Despite their popularity, there is broad consensus among survey design experts that using these items introduces excessive error into respondents' ratings. The authors attempt to answer the following…

Interest in the role that parenting assumes in child obesity has increased the need for valid and reliable screening tools that are specific for populations targeted by programming efforts. While low-income families comprise a large audience for Cooperative Extension obesity prevention programs, valid and reliable self-administered parenting…

Most computerized adaptive tests (CATs) have been studied using the framework of unidimensional item response theory. However, many psychological variables are multidimensional and might benefit from using a multidimensional approach to CATs. This study investigated the accuracy, fidelity, and efficiency of a fully multidimensional CAT algorithm…

This study is aimed at examining how students of selected Teacher Training Colleges handle one important aspect of sentence structure, i.e. "subordination". Data were collected from written scripts, and tests responded to by 150 participants from three selected colleges. These were analyzed by identifying both correct and incorrect uses…

This study is part of a large-scale project focused on "Qatari students' Interest in, and Attitudes toward, Science" (QIAS). QIAS aimed to gauge Qatari student attitudes toward science in grades 3-12, examine factors that impact these attitudes, and assess the relationship between student attitudes and prevailing modes of science…

Scholastic tests regard cognitive abilities to be domain-specific competences. However, high correlations between competences indicate either high task similarity or a dependence on common factors. The present rating study examined the validity of 12 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Third or Trends in International…

The Early Literacy Knowledge and Skills (ELKS) instrument was informed by the work of Ferreiro and Teberosky based on the notion that young children could be differentiated according to levels of sophistication in their understanding of the rules of written language. As an initial step to evaluate the instrument for teaching purposes, the present…

Current science education reform efforts emphasize teaching K-12 science using hands-on, inquiry activities. For maximum learning and probability of implementation among inservice teachers, these strategies must be modeled in college science courses for preservice teachers. About a decade ago, Morehead State University revised their science…

This study is a part of a large study that investigated the Assessment Practices of Mathematics Teachers who also teach AP Statistics. In this paper I investigate the thinking skills that assessment items used mathematics and AP Statistics classroom assess. Two teachers who were teaching mathematics and AP Statistics participated in this study.…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) field tests during the spring of 2014 provided an opportunity to investigate the quality of the items, tasks, and associated stimuli. HumRRO conducted several research studies summarized in this report. Quality of test items is integral to the "Theory of Action"…

The population of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States continues to increase and there is a significant need to develop psychometrically sound early language and literacy screening measures to accurately capture children's ability in Spanish. In this paper, we describe the innovative design and calibration process of the new…

The first aim of this study was to develop a computer adaptive EFL test (CALT) that assesses test takers' listening and reading proficiency in English with dichotomous items and polytomous testlets. We reported in detail on the development of the CALT, including item banking, determination of suitable item response theory (IRT) models for item…