Four-parameter models have received increasing psychometric attention in recent years, as a reduced upper asymptote for item characteristic curves can be appealing for measurement applications such as adaptive testing and person-fit assessment. However, applications can be challenging due to the large number of parameters in the model. In this…

The purpose of this paper is to showcase new research that seeks to provide guidance on the heterogeneity of treatment effects by utilizing the variance of demographic differences in state assessments. This study is focused on a simple randomized block design where students are nested within schools, and within each school students are randomized…

Randomized experiments are often considered the strongest designs to study the impact of educational interventions. Perhaps the most prevalent class of designs used in large scale education experiments is the cluster randomized design in which entire schools are assigned to treatments. In cluster randomized trials (CRTs) that assign schools to…

Background: Cluster-randomized experiments that assign intact groups such as schools or school districts to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research. Such experiments are inherently multilevel designs whose sensitivity (statistical power and precision of estimates) depends on the variance decomposition across levels.…

A vertical scale, in principle, provides a common metric across tests with differing difficulties (e.g., spanning multiple grades) so that statements of "absolute" growth can be made. This paper compares 16 states' 2007-2008 effect size growth trends on vertically scaled reading and math assessments across grades 3 to 8. Two patterns…

Over nearly three decades, the Public Policy Forum has collected and analyzed education data to report on the demographics, academic performance, and finances of public schools and districts in southeast Wisconsin. This 29th annual public schools report continues that tradition with updated analyses of new data and trends to shed light on the…

THE RELATIONSHIP OF DEWEY'S EXPERIMENTALISM TO CREATIVITY, SCHOOL ATTITUDE, AND SOCIOMETRIC STATUS WAS STUDIED. DURING PHASE ONE, FOURTH-SIXTH GRADE TEACHERS (141) WERE ADMINISTERED THE EXPERIMENTALISM SCALE. A TRUNCATION WAS APPLIED AT EACH END OF THE TEACHERS' SCORE CONTINUUM ON THE BASIS OF A T-TEST. DURING PHASE TWO, PUPILS TAUGHT BY THE…

Six tests were constructed, four on a pictorial level and two on a symbolic level, to measure the performance of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children, in three different ability groups, on problems concerning ratios or fractions. Two variables were of interest in the four tests on a pictorial level: (a) "equal" ratio situations vs.…

THIS STUDY WAS CONCERNED WITH IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILDREN OF AVERAGE MUSICAL ABILITY AND CHILDREN GIFTED MUSICALLY AS THEY ENGAGED IN CERTAIN MUSIC ACTIVITIES. DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM TESTS OF 227 MADISON, WISCONSIN, PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN, GRADES 4-6. THE TAPE-RECORDING TEST WAS IN 2 PHASES--(1) 89 CHILDREN, SELECTED AT RANDOM…

Picturing Peace is an ArtsBridge collaboration in which K-12 students learn to use digital cameras to communicate their feelings and ideas about peace. The photographs of three student cultures were analyzed. Both local and universal symbols of peace were found, such as nature, light, community, environment, peace signs, play, spiritual symbols,…