We introduce an approach for making a quantitative comparison of the item response curves (IRCs) of any two populations on a multiple-choice test instrument. In this study, we employ simulated and actual data. We apply our approach to a dataset of 12,187 participants on the 25-item Science Literacy Concept Inventory (SLCI), which includes ample…

The world of work is being impacted by a fourth industrial revolution, transformed by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. With forecasts suggesting large shares of workers, displaced by automation, in need of upskilling/reskilling, the design of active skills policies is necessary. Conventional methods used to anticipate…

Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood…

The "Forum Guide to Data Literacy" is designed to help education agencies understand and build data literacy skills among various stakeholder groups such as administrators, teachers, students, parents and other caregivers, school board members, legislators, and community groups. This resource defines and discusses the importance of data…

Higher education leaders have repeatedly called for improved diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, but many institutions continue to fall short. Data can play an integral role in this work; key among them are data on student demographics, including race/ethnicity. Meeting diversity, equity, and inclusion goals requires a thorough and nuanced…

Previous U.K. population-based studies have found associations amongst early speech and language difficulties, socioeconomic disadvantage and children's word-reading ability later on. We examine the strength of these associations in a recent U.K. population-based birth cohort. Analyses were based on 13,680 participants. Linear regression models…

This paper presents findings from a small exploratory study examining eight diversely qualified early childhood (EC) educators' understandings about belonging. Data from interviews were analysed drawing on 10 dimensions and 3 axes of belonging. Findings from this study demonstrate that educators had a strong sense of social, emotional, spatial and…

The study investigated the quality of interactions between childcare providers and toddlers during a lunch in childcare centres. Meals in childcare centres are semi-structured adult-led situations where the children not only eat, but are also provided with opportunities for implicit learning and interactions. Participants were 13 toddlers aged…

The article outlines a methodology for systematically observing collective violence (and public order policing in relation to it). Specific attention is given to matters of sampling and measurement and to the way in which observational challenges have been met in comparison with participant observational studies of demonstrations and football…

This study investigated pre-service mathematics teachers' (PST), who are going to teach middle grade mathematics (grade 5-8), understanding of inclusion relationships of quadrilaterals. In addition to describing PSTs' understanding of inclusion relations of quadrilaterals; it was also aimed to document the development of PSTs' understanding of…

This study examined how teachers read cases in a professional development academy for reading teachers. It drew on reading theory, particularly Tierney and Pearson's (1981) work on "text-based" and "reader-based" readings of traditional print-based text, to analyze conversations about cases where a specific focus on pedagogical…

Purpose of the Study: Missing data are a common problem encountered while implementing measurement instruments. Yet the extent to which reliability, validity, average discrimination and difficulty of the test results are affected by the missing data has not been studied much. Since it is inevitable that missing data have an impact on the…

Data models built for analyzing student data often obfuscate temporal relationships for reasons of simplicity, or to aid in generalization. We present a model based on temporal relationships of heterogeneous data as the basis for building predictive models. We show how within- and between-semester temporal patterns can provide insight into the…

School discipline and school safety are primary areas of concern for school administrators. This article summarizes the research literature regarding suspension in response to nonviolent and subjective offenses for racial/ethnic minorities. Steps that administrators can follow in applying a root cause analysis with a focus on school practices are…

We propose a general cognitive diagnosis model framework to diagnose mental disorders using item scores obtained from clinical measurement instruments. This framework can be used to validate the extent to which the items measure the specific disorders. The method is illustrated using data obtained with the Dutch version of Millon Clinical…