In this response to Burdick et al. (2013), the author describes two possible and perhaps even common reactions to the article by Burdick et al. (2013). Advocates such as Way, Davis, and Strain- Seymour (2008) will likely applaud the development of the Writing Ability Developmental Scale and the possible widespread use of computer-based writing…

In this article, we explore how youth audiences evaluate the quality of youth-produced films. Our interest stems from a dearth of ways to measure the quality of what youth produce in artistic production processes. As a result, making art in formal learning settings devolves into either romanticized creativity or instrumental work to improve skills…

Increased importance is being placed on statistics at both the K-12 and undergraduate level. Research divulging effective methods to teach specific statistical concepts is still widely sought after. In this paper, we focus on best practices for teaching topics in nonparametric statistics at the undergraduate level. To motivate the work, we…

Planned missing data designs allow researchers to increase the amount and quality of data collected in a single study. Unfortunately, the effect of planned missing data designs on power is not straightforward. Under certain conditions using a planned missing design will increase power, whereas in other situations using a planned missing design…

This article presents principles and practices of effective assessment, outlining seven key concepts--usefulness, reliability, validity, practicality, washback, authenticity, and transparency--and demonstrating how to apply them in creating an exam blueprint. The article also discusses the importance of providing feedback after a test has been…

We surveyed 355 junior doctors (first 4 years of post-university training; 69% female, mean age = 28 years) from multiple hospital and practice locations and used an online questionnaire to assess their training-related demands (academic stress, concern about training debt, and hours worked), academic burnout, and personal resources…

After two decades teaching elementary aged children, Janet Erskine states that she has grown increasingly concerned with the use of high-stakes tests to determine how well students, teachers, and schools are performing. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates took effect in 2002, requiring the results on some standardized assessments be used to…

Although evaluators often use an interrupted time series (ITS) design to test hypotheses about program effects, there are few empirical tests of the design's validity. We take a randomized experiment on an educational topic and compare its effects to those from a comparative ITS (CITS) design that uses the same treatment group as the experiment…

These studies examined the role of ontological beliefs about category boundaries in early categorization. Study 1 found that preschool-age children (N = 48, aged 3-4 years old) have domain-specific beliefs about the meaning of category boundaries; children judged the boundaries of natural kind categories (animal species, human gender) as discrete…

This study examines whether tutors (N?=?15) in a problem-based learning curriculum were able to predict students' success in their first year and their entire bachelor programme. Tutors were asked to rate each student in their tutorial group in terms of the chance that this student would successfully finish their first year and the entire…

Sociologists have focused almost exclusively on academic aspects of status in higher education, despite the prominence of nonacademic activities, specifically athletics, in U.S. colleges and universities. We use the case of football to investigate whether intercollegiate sports influence the distribution of status in U.S. higher education.…

In this study, a computerized measure, Interactive Analogical Measure (IAM), was developed and used to assess young children's ability to reason analogically. The IAM was equipped to provide corrective feedback and the effects of that feedback were tested for experimental and control groups. A group of 5-year-olds (N = 80) participated in the…

We tested the hypothesis that dopamine D1 and D2 receptor gene (DRD1 and DRD2, respectively) polymorphisms and the development of working memory skills can interact to influence symptom change over 10 years in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, we examined whether improvements in working memory maintenance…

Background: Applying Benson's program of validation (Benson, 1998) we provide evidence supporting the validity of a projective instrument that assesses the autonomous motivation of students with impaired cognitive abilities. Method: Eighty-eight grade 7-9 students diagnosed with cognitive impairment participated in this study. Participants'…

This article provides a brief background on the evolution of the two testing consortia and the perspective of one principal with the transition to online testing in an elementary school.