The development and initial psychometric investigation of the Hocus Focus Analytics (HFA) Scale, an instrument to measure student growth and outcomes using an arts-integrated teaching approach, is reported. A 15-item instrument consisting of five subscales (cognitive, motor, communication, social skills and creativity) was developed to measure the…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) strives to provide every student with a positive and productive assessment experience, generating results that are a fair and accurate estimate of each student's achievement. Further, Smarter Balanced is building on a framework of accessibility for all students, including English…

We investigated the associations between teacher-rated and direct assessments of early elementary students' speech and language skills to explore whether using teachers as primary screeners yielded assessment data that reliably identified young students with language difficulties who many need a more comprehensive evaluation. We assessed first-…

The purpose of this study is to develop the Inclusion Knowledge Test (IKT) for assessing preschool teachers' knowledge of inclusive practices and to examine its psychometric characteristics. To achieve this purpose, the researchers wrote short stories (vignettes) focusing on the various aspects of inclusive practices, such as assessing the…

Despite the prevalence of student learning objectives (SLOs) in teacher evaluation systems throughout the United States, research on the validity of student and teacher SLO scores used for high-stakes decisions is lacking. For this reason, this dissertation is comprised of two chapters that examine student and teacher-level SLO performance data…

Including students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) is a challenge for large-scale assessments. In order to draw inferences with respect to students with SEN-L and to compare their scores to students in general education, one needs to assure that the measurement model is reliable and that the same construct is measured for…

The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3) is a revised and updated comprehensive academic achievement test (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2014). Authored by Drs. Alan and Nadeen Kaufman and published by Pearson, the KTEA-3 remains an individual achievement test normed for individuals of ages 4 through 25 years, or for those in…

Students with significant disabilities must participate in large-scale assessments, often using an alternate assessment judged against alternate achievement standards. The development and administration of this type of assessment must necessarily balance meaningful participation with accurate measurement. In this study, generalizability theory is…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the longitudinal kindergarten-fourth grade (K-4) public-use data file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), which includes the first release of the public version of the third-grade data. This manual mainly provides information specific…

The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA) was mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). Specifically, the law called for a "Study on Ensuring Accountability for Students Who Are Held to Alternative Achievement Standards" to examine: (1) the criteria that states use to determine…

The importance of student assessment, particularly for summative purposes, has increased greatly over the past thirty years. At the same time, emphasis on including all students in assessment programs has also increased. Assessment programs, whether they are large-scale, district-based, or teacher developed, have traditionally attempted to assess…

A study of 71 students (ages 7-17) with disabilities investigated the interrater agreement of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA), a behavior rating scale used in school settings. Participants were rated by 29 educational professionals in 24 classrooms. Results found ASCA produced acceptable levels of interrater agreement.…

This paper suggests that in addressing the issue of parent-professional congruence in child assessment, researchers should avoid focusing on the conventional aspects of interrater reliability and rater interchangeability, but rather should focus on the reliability of the pooled assessment information from parents and professionals. A…

Teaching professionals (n=29) who shared the same classroom for a minimum of one hour per day provided independent ratings of the same child (ages 7-17) on the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA). Results indicated that statistically significant interrater agreement was achieved across all 22 syndromic profile classification…

Authentic assessment is a growing alternative to conventional testing. This research-to-practice article describes a framework for implementing authentic assessment. The R-E-A-L framework shows how roles, equipment, assessment tools, and location can be incorporated into early childhood practices.