The use of fitness testing is a practical means for measuring components of health-related fitness, but there is currently substantial debate over the motivating effects of these tests. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cross-fertilization of achievement and friendship goal profiles for early adolescents involved in the…

Local assessment systems are being marketed as formative, benchmark, predictive, and a host of other terms. Many so-called formative assessments are not at all similar to the types of assessments and strategies studied by Black and Wiliam (1998) but instead are interim assessments. In this article, we clarify the definition and uses of interim…

Reliable and valid assessment of individuals who are English language learners (ELL) has presented a dilemma to psychologists, and school psychologists in particular, as it is complicated by the small number of professionals qualified to serve as bilingual examiners. Some psychologists use ancillary examiners during testing when no bilingual…

The current study evaluates three hypothesized models on subjective well-being, comprising life domain ratings (LDR), overall satisfaction with life (OSWL), and overall dissatisfaction with life (ODWL), using structural equation modeling (SEM). A sample of 1,310 volunteering students, randomly assigned to six conditions, rated their overall life…

An online survey of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults (N = 1,552) examined minority stress (I. H. Meyer, 2003) and psychological distress following the 2006 general election in which constitutional amendments to limit marriage to 1 man and 1 woman were on the ballot in 9 states. Following the November election, participants living in states…

This paper describes a piece of research carried out at the University of Bradford into student perceptions of e-assessment. An online questionnaire was delivered to 130 undergraduates who had taken part in online assessment (either formative or summative) during the academic year 2007-2008. The survey looked at six main dimensions: (1) affective…

A natural language based system has been used to author and mark short-answer free-text assessment tasks. Students attempt the questions online and are given tailored and relatively detailed feedback on incorrect and incomplete responses, and have the opportunity to repeat the task immediately so as to learn from the feedback provided. The answer…

Brief experimental analysis (BEA) can be used to specify intervention characteristics that produce positive learning gains for individual students. A key challenge to the use of BEA for intervention planning is the identification of performance indicators (including topography of the skill, measurement characteristics, and decision criteria) that…

Disconnection of cognitively important processing regions by injury to the interconnecting white matter provides a potential mechanism for cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. The contribution of tract-specific white matter injury to dysfunction in different cognitive domains in patients with multiple sclerosis has not previously been…

A formative computer-based assessment (CBA) was one of three instruments used for assessment in a Bachelor of Education course at Queen's University (Ontario, Canada) with an enrolment of approximately 700 students. The formative framework fostered a self-regulated learning environment whereby feedback on the CBA was used to support rather than…

This article demonstrates, through stories of Ohanian's teaching, journalism experience, and analysis of testing items and outcomes, that we have every right and obligation to challenge institutionalized norms that shape today's views of assessment practices.

This paper estimates the impact of the Michigan school finance reform, "Proposal A," on education inputs and test scores. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, I find that school districts in Michigan used the increase in educational spending generated through "Proposal A" to increase teacher salaries and reduce…

Curriculum-based measurement of reading (CBM-R) is used to estimate oral reading fluency. Unlike many traditional published tests, CBM-R materials are often comprised of 20 to 30 alternate forms/passages. Historically, CBM-R assessment materials were sampled from curricular materials. Recent research has documented the potentially deleterious…

Heated discussions about the comparability of standards between examination subjects have kept Qualification Authorities, Testing Services, independent researchers and academics around the world busy for many years. As a result, many countries have adopted statistical techniques which aspire to make aggregated scores based on different subjects…

This study examined the status of critical thinking (CT) and reasoning skills in information communication and technology (ICT) for 190 college students in a higher education system. It analyzed how the students performed in CT, reasoning, and internet copyright and ethical issues. A CT assessment was designed to analyze the CT and reasoning…