To ensure fairness, it is important to better understand the relationship of language proficiency to standard psychometric analysis procedures. This paper examines how results of differential item functioning (DIF) analysis are affected by an increase in the proportion of examinees who report that English is not their first language in the…

The purpose of the current investigation was to determine which curriculum-based measures of written expression demonstrated adequate technical characteristics and provided useful information towards predicting performance on a state-standardized assessment. Data collected from 124 third grade students was used for the study. Curriculum-based…

Ten cerebral palsied adolescents and young adults with complex communicative needs who use augmentative and alternative communication were studied. They were classified according to their high versus low working memory capacity and according to their high versus low phonological skills into two groups of participants. These groups were compared on…

Low levels of reading performance are associated with delinquency. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between early involvement in the justice system and reading problems. This study examined the relationship between youth at various early stages of involvement with criminal behaviors and reading abilities (specifically,…

The long-term relationship between lower intelligence and mortality risk in later life is well established, even when controlling for a range of health and sociodemographic measures. However, there is some evidence for differential effects in various domains of cognitive performance. Specifically, tests of fluid intelligence may have a stronger…

This study investigates the factorial invariance of the statewide science tests at the middle school level across the oral administration accommodation and nonaccommodated groups of students with and without disabilities. Results indicate that the factor loadings and error variances are invariant across groups, although the oral administration and…

The validity and reliability of curriculum-based measures in reading as indicators of performance and progress for secondary-school students were examined. Thirty-five grade 8 students completed reading aloud and maze-selection measures weekly for 10 weeks. Criterion measures were the state standards test in reading and the Woodcock-Johnson III…

The present study assessed 89 children in a short-term longitudinal study from Junior Kindergarten (age 4-5 years) through Grade 1 (age 6-7 years) using a variety of tests of emergent literacy. Children were assessed for reading skill (a composite of word recognition, decoding, and letter-sound knowledge), phonological awareness, and oral language…

People not only use social comparisons to evaluate their abilities, they also engage in dimensional comparisons, comparing their own achievement in different domains. Processes of dimensional comparison have contrasting effects on subject-specific self-concepts: downward dimensional comparisons result in higher self-concept in the…

The general diagnostic model (GDM) utilizes located latent classes for modeling a multidimensional proficiency variable. In this paper, the GDM is extended by employing a log-linear model for multiple populations that assumes constraints on parameters across multiple groups. This constrained model is compared to log-linear models that assume…

This study examined whether "Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools"[R] improve students' reading assessment scores. The study reported higher gains in reading assessment scores for students who participated in the "CDF Freedom Schools"[R] program than for students who did not participate, evaluating more than 3,000…

As an alternative to reading quizzes, a team of biochemistry instructors implemented student reading questions (Henderson and Rosenthal 2006) as a new instructional strategy within their large-enrollment biochemistry courses. Unexpected positive outcomes of this instructional method were realized, as well as limitations of the method within this…

Differences in cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns as a function of working-memory capacity and reading for different purposes were examined in college-aged readers by collecting reading times and calculating absolute monitoring accuracy, which is the difference between estimated and actual comprehension test performance. Readers read…

This dissertation was written collaboratively by Cynthia Warren, Linetta Carter, and George Edwards with the exception of chapter 4 which is the individual effort of the aforementioned researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of at-home reading activities and parental involvement on classroom communication arts assessments…

The need to address social and economic changes has focused greater attention on our public education system and the need to better equip students with the skills needed for a global society. This quantitative study was grounded in the principles of the constructivist learning theory. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the added…