Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, are becoming increasingly prominent. Their use is becoming more and more popular to assist with simple tasks, such as summarizing documents, translating languages, rephrasing sentences, or answering questions. Reports like McKinsey's (Chui, & Yee, 2023) estimate that by implementing LLMs,…

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires that English Learners (ELs) are included in annual state testing (grades 3-8 and once in high school) and included in each state's accountability system disaggregated by subgroup to ensure that they receive the support they need to learn English, participate fully in their education experience, and graduate…

This manual contains technical information about the ACT® college readiness assessment. The principal purpose of this manual is to document the technical characteristics of the ACT in light of its intended purposes. ACT regularly conducts research as part of the ongoing formative evaluation of its programs. The research is intended to ensure that…

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate alpha's robustness and usefulness, using actual and simulated educational test data. The sampling properties of alpha are compared with the sampling properties of several other reliability coefficients: Guttman's lambda[subscript 2], lambda[subscript 4], and lambda[subscript 6]; test-retest reliability;…

Over the past decade, there has been greater recognition by educators, employers, and policymakers of the importance of behavioral skills and navigation factors (e.g., dependability, cooperation, interests, and goals) for education and career success. A growing body of research shows that these factors contribute to diverse positive outcomes in…

The 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) known as No Child Left Behind and more recent federal initiatives such as Race to the Top and the ESEA flexibility waiver have brought student growth to the forefront of education reform for assessing school and teacher effectiveness. This study examined growth…

Educational accountability has grown substantially over the last decade, due in large part to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Accordingly, educational researchers and policymakers are interested in the statistical properties of accountability models used for NCLB, such as status, improvement, and growth models; as well as others that are not…