In this article, the author demonstrates how a Bourdieusian analysis of poetic transcriptions offers great potential for helping teachers and students to understand how they are responding to state policy mandates in schools. Specifically, the author uses Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital, and habitus to analyze two poetic transcriptions,…

In an insightful commentary, the author ruminates on the dilemmas of coaching in the context of high-stakes testing. [Drawn from an essay titled "Send Me in, Coach!" that the author has written for a future issue of "The New Teacher," a journal published by the City University of New York.]

To assess the effect of a 4-question reflective learning technique on quiz performance, students engaged in an interactive activity, responded to 4 questions to encourage analyzing (i.e., what was learned), reflecting (i.e., why it is important), relating (i.e., how the material related to their personal lives), and generating (i.e., what…

Background: A recent article published in "Educational Research" on the reliability of results in National Curriculum testing in England (Newton, "The reliability of results from national curriculum testing in England," "Educational Research" 51, no. 2: 181-212, 2009) suggested that: (1) classification accuracy can be…

This study aimed to explore the effects of marking and metacognition-evaluated feedback (MEF) in computer-based testing (CBT) on student performance and review behavior. Marking is a strategy, in which students place a question mark next to a test item to indicate an uncertain answer. The MEF provided students with feedback on test results…

Prior research regarding practice effects on ability tests has focused primarily on the differences in average score gains across different types of preparation (e.g., test retaking vs. focused item practice vs. coaching). In contrast, there has been little concerted effort towards understanding the significant variance in score gains across…

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to empirically test items of a new measure designed to assess person-directed care (PDC) practices in long-term care. Design and Methods: After reviewing the literature, we identified five areas related to PDC: personhood, comfort care, autonomy, knowing the person, and support for relationships. We also…

This article presents a model of collaboration between a state child welfare licensing division and a public university to develop and administer online examinations for persons seeking licensure as administrators of residential child care facilities or child placing agencies. The exams assess knowledge of state standards and various practice…

In this study we observed college students' behavior on two self-tailored, multiple-choice exams. Self-tailoring was defined as an option to omit up to five items from being scored on an exam. Participants, 80 undergraduate college students enrolled in two sections of an educational psychology course, statistically significantly improved their…

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the choice between three multiple-choice listening comprehension test formats results in any difference in listening comprehension test performance. The three formats entail (a) allowing test takers to preview both the question stem and answer options prior to listening; (b) allowing test takers to…

Environmental context can affect memory retrieval in a wide range of situations. The authors investigate the relationship between the location of a collegiate final examination and student performance. Although several other studies have looked at the impact of environmental context on test taking, this study does so in a real-world environment,…

Background: Within the context of students' self-regulated learning, the interplay between learners' individual characteristics and the context of testing have been emphasized for assessing learning outcomes. Aims: The present study examined metacognitive monitoring and control processes in elementary schoolchildren's test taking behaviour and…

While the case method has been used in teaching social work practice for many years, its use as an evaluation tool is less common. This analysis describes the use of the case method in a comprehensive examination for MSW students in an Administration concentration. After a brief review of the issues related to student outcome assessment and the…

According to the Memory for Past Test (MPT) heuristic, judgments of learning (JOLs) may be based, in part, on memory for the correctness of answers on a previous test. The authors explored MPT as the source of the underconfidence with practice effect (UWP; A. Koriat, L. Sheffer, & H. Ma'ayan, 2002), whereby Trial 1 overconfidence switches to …

The strengths and weaknesses of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) are described with reference to its origins, previous research and comments from critics and supporters. A case is made for this allegedly theoretical approach to provide the kind of outcomes focused intervention that psychology and psychologists can offer to schools. In…