Assessing students' writing performance is essential to adequately monitor and promote individual writing development, but it is also a challenge. The present research investigates a benchmark rating procedure for assessing texts written by upper-elementary students. In two studies we examined whether a benchmark rating procedure (1) leads to…

This article explores how well bibliometrics and altmetrics reflect research impact in relation to Boyer's Model of the Scholarship. Indices used for both types of metrics are explored and discussed while including an analysis on primary methodological works performed on each in the literature to date. As confirmatory in nature, we chose as our…

This study investigates inter- and intracoder reliability, proposing a new approach based on social network analysis (SNA) and exponential random graph models (ERGM). During a recent exit poll, the responses of voters to two open-ended questions were recorded. A coding experiment was conducted where a group of coders coded a sample of text…

Aspiring teachers must develop an in-depth understanding of high-quality instructional practices. In order to prepare, instruct, and coach aspiring teachers, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) has developed a the NIET Aspiring Teacher Rubric (ATR) based on principles of excellence in instruction. This research brief…

Drawing on the concepts of consistency, this study contributes to the discussion of study programme plans and the links between curriculum elements. The main argument is that a universal requirement of consistency is taken for granted in study programme planning, even though critics have noted a need for closer scrutiny and debate. The literature…

The usefulness of evaluation is critical. Evaluation use occurs when, from its results or process, decisions are made about the program, it changes people's mindsets, or persuasive or legitimation actions happen (instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic uses respectively). Few quantitative evaluation use studies have been conducted in recent years.…

Classical evaluation methods, assessments, exams, and so forth accentuate the perception of one against all, professor versus learners. Including students in the assessment process, allows transforming the professor from an opponent to a critical friend, with the role of helping students to recognize both their strengths and weaknesses. However,…

Recent developments have enabled the modeling of longitudinal assessment data in a diagnostic classification model (DCM) framework. These longitudinal DCMs were developed to provide measures of student growth on a discrete scale in the form of attribute mastery transitions, thereby supporting categorical and criterion-referenced interpretations of…

Identifying and describing children's play behaviours is an important component of evaluating child development. The Behaviour Mapping Schedule is a direct observational tool which aims to describe and quantify children's play behaviours but is yet to undergo reliability testing. This study aimed to determine the intra- and inter-rater reliability…

Purpose: While flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is a common clinical procedure used in the head and neck cancer (HNC) population, extant outcome measures for FEES such as bolus-level penetration-aspiration and residue scores are not well suited as global patient-level endpoint measures of dysphagia severity in cooperative group…

Offering explanations is a central part of teaching mathematics, and understanding those explanations is a vital activity for learners. Given this, it is natural to ask what makes a good mathematical explanation. This question has received surprisingly little attention in the mathematics education literature, perhaps because the field has no…

Creative orientation is the extent to which different individuals are drawn toward creative activities (e.g., art, music). We know relatively little about child-level creative orientation given certain testing limitations. Adult tools often measure time spent engaged in creative pursuits, but this method is unsuitable for children because their…

Coefficient alpha reliability persists as the most common reliability coefficient reported in research. The assumptions for its use are, however, not well-understood. The current paper challenges the commonly used expressions of coefficient alpha and argues that while these expressions are correct when estimating reliability for summed scores,…

Our study investigates whether confidence correlates with consistency in reasoning, specifically about radioactive decay. In prior work, we developed and tested a survey designed to measure consistency of student reasoning about radioactive decay by comparing responses to three prompts that are isomorphic, meaning that, despite having different…

The assessment of human performance is not a new phenomenon. We have evidence that people have been required to prove their worth dating back at least to the Epic of Gilgamesh. What has changed, at least on a large scale, is the importance given to quantitative evidence in the evaluation process. For example, many employers have begun subjecting…