In this study I compared results of chained linear, Tucker, and Levine-observed score equatings under conditions where the new and old forms samples were similar in ability and also when they were different in ability. The length of the anchor test was also varied to examine its effect on the three different equating methods. The three equating…

An innovative DVD of classic nursery rhymes and stories empowered at-risk kindergarten children to control in the home when and how much they listen, promoting better listening, reading, and overall literacy comprehension skills. Coupled with modest teacher training, and limited use in the classroom, the DVD generated dramatic vocabulary growth in…

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores of 8th grade students and End of Course Test (EOCT) scores of the same students as 9th graders in the areas of language arts and mathematics to test the theory that a relationship exists between the two tests. The study also examined…

Public education has options with regard to educational settings and structures. States and school districts may select varying lengths for the school year, lengths for the school day, and lengths for individual class periods. In Utah, one measure of students' achievement is scores on the State's end-of-level criterion-referenced test (CRT) for…

Criterion-referenced measures, such as those used in the assessment of crime and violence, prioritize predictive accuracy (discrimination) at the expense of construct validity. In this article, we compared the discrimination and incremental validity of three commonly used criterion-referenced measures for sex offenders (Rapid Risk Assessment for…

The problems of shifting from norm-referenced assessment to criterion-referenced assessment have been identified by several scholars in recent years. These important critiques touch on a number of areas, but neglect a key question about how assessors learn to accomplish what Shay calls a "socially situated interpretive act". Research…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between music instruction and mathematics achievement scores for 6th grade students at an Atlanta public school. Guided by Gardner's multiple intelligences model, neurological research, and National Consortium of Arts Education research, this study used a quasi-experimental…

Recent changes to state laws on accountability have prompted school districts to design teacher performance evaluation systems that incorporate student achievement (student growth) as a major component. As a consequence, some states and districts are considering teacher value-added models as part of teacher performance evaluations. Value-added…

This guide attempts to address an aspect of secondary CTE (Career and Technical Education) that has received little attention; the assessment literacy of educators. School leaders need to go beyond ensuring routine compliance with external and internal regulatory forces to identify ways in which CTE program teachers might better understand…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine region, age, and sex profiles of physical fitness in Hungarian youth. Method: A sample of 2,602 Hungarian youth aged 10 to 18 years old completed a series of physical fitness field tests: the Progressive Aerobic Cardiorespiratory Endurance Run (PACER) fitness test, body mass index (BMI), percent…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the Pathways to STEM Initiative (PSI) on students and science teachers and to describe the level of PSI implementation. One group of middle schools participated in PSI, which included project-based science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) coursework; extra-curricular STEM opportunities…

The Instructional Conversation (IC) is a complete classroom pedagogy that focuses on teaching through small-group dialogue with students allowing responsive instruction for each student. The IC is anchored by cognitive-developmental theory and by four decades of multi-method quasi-experimental studies. This study describes the first research of an…

The Texas State University-San Marcos undergraduate healthcare administration program requires all bachelors of health administration (BHA) students to pass a comprehensive examination to demonstrate their knowledge of specific core competencies. This also demonstrates completion of their didactic coursework in order to enter a practical…

To help teachers improve their efficiency and effectiveness, this dissertation study uses regression analysis to assess two middle Georgia counties' CRCT and Math 1 EOCT data in order to determine the usability of the CRCT to enhance instruction in Math 1. Data were collected from the 2009 and 2010 CRCT administrations and the 2010 and 2011 EOCT…

The Test of Everyday Reading Comprehension (TERC) has recently been presented as an addition to the armoury of tests available for assessing the skills of low-progress readers. While comparison data for students of different ages are presented together with evidence for high test reliability, there is, as yet, no published evidence for its…