When taking a standardized test, one wants it to be fair and objective. Catherine McClellan makes sure that it is. Catherine is a psychometrician. Like many in this occupation, she designs, scores, and analyzes data from exams. Psychometrics is the science of measuring psychological attributes, such as intelligence or understanding. Tests are one…

The article challenges common practice in relation to resits of ignoring the main assessment results and making high-stakes decisions on the basis of resit results alone. Implications for institutions, students and educators are discussed. The proposal is that not all resits should be treated equally and that, in some circumstances, more robust…

Clinically clear, statistically sound and easy-to-understand interpretation of a screening result for a serious disease to a patient is very important.

Successfully navigating the road from elementary to high school only means that planning for college is the next route on the destination to post-secondary education. With the most elite colleges' acceptance rates hovering around 5-8 percent, it's never too early for parents to start educating themselves and their child about college planning.…

American education has problems, almost everyone is willing to concede, but many think those problems are mostly concentrated in America's large urban school districts. In the elite suburbs, where wealthy and politically influential people tend to live, the schools are assumed to be world-class. Unfortunately, what everyone knows is wrong. Even…

In an attempt to increase the effectiveness of instruction in California's public schools, educators, policymakers, and researchers are looking for ways to boost the quality of teacher evaluations. This report explains the complex relationship between state policy on teacher evaluation and local practice. It also describes prevailing criticisms of…

A random walk through the mission statements of independent schools shows an admirable determination to educate students for an unknowable future, for creativity and problem solving, for responsible citizenship, for resiliency. Nevertheless, many of these same schools are constrained to work towards their mission-central goals in time stolen from…

The concept of relevance is an obvious component in the success of classroom science investigations, but it is also one of the tenets behind the numerous media advertisements that bombard our senses on a daily basis. The authors decided to capitalize on the similarities between process-based science and the world of advertising by initiating…

To achieve perpetually better test results each year as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), teachers in successful schools such as Leroy Anderson Elementary in San Jose, California, will "try anything" to raise scores, as the school's principal stated in an interview with "The San Jose Mercury News." In schools…

In the Hastings Nebraska Public schools, two of the eight schools have been identified as national models of educational effectiveness. In seven of eight buildings, in just four years, student test scores have increased from around 60% proficiency to around 80% proficiency or better. At Hastings, central office leaders emphasize three key…

Over the past few decades, those who take tests in the United States have exhibited increasing diversity with respect to native language. Standard psychometric procedures for ensuring item and test fairness that have existed for some time were developed when test-taking groups were predominantly native English speakers. A better understanding of…

It is almost self-evident that test results will be unreliable and misleading if those undergoing assessments do not make a full effort on testing. Nevertheless, objective tests of effort have not typically been used with young adults to determine whether test results are valid or not. Because of the potential economic and/or recreational benefits…

This article features Khan Academy which offers an online math program and short video lectures embedded in the "module", or math concept, that fit students' goals. By now, more than 1 million people have watched the online video in which Salman Khan--a charming MIT math whiz, Harvard Business School graduate, and former Boston hedge-fund…

This report on the Alberta Student Assessment Study describes the context, methodology, and emergent themes. It outlines the purposes and uses of assessment according to the various stakeholder groups. Using both qualitative and quantitative data from students and parents, as well as educators at all levels, there were six areas or themes that…

Data-driven instruction began its spread across the country about a decade ago, in the footsteps of the No Child Left Behind requirement that schools administer yearly achievement tests. Those tests didn't help teachers spot and backfill learning gaps, though. Scores came back after everyone had moved on to the next grade, and anyway, the tests…