The authors address the reliability of scores obtained on the summative performance assessments during the pilot year of our research. Contrary to classical test theory, we discussed the advantages of using generalizability theory for estimating reliability of scores for summative performance assessments. Generalizability theory was used as the…

When people rapidly judge the truth of claims presented with or without related but nonprobative photos, the photos tend to inflate the subjective truth of those claims--a "truthiness" effect (Newman et al., 2012). For example, people more often judged the claim "Macadamia nuts are in the same evolutionary family as peaches" to…

Indicators of academic achievement for bilingual students can be inaccurate due to linguistic heterogeneity. For indigenous populations, language shift (the gradual replacement of one language by another) is a factor that can increase this heterogeneity and poses an additional challenge for valid testing. We investigated whether and how indigenous…

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of written expression curriculum-based measurement (WE-CBM) in the context of universal screening from a generalizability theory framework. Students in second through fifth grade (n = 145) participated in the study. The sample included 54% female students, 49% White students, 23% African…

High school graduation is "not yet a reliable indicator of college readiness", (Gaertner & McClarty, 2015, p2). As such, researchers are investigating the use of non-cognitive factors as predictors of College and Career Readiness (CCR). The College and Career Readiness Mathematical Practice Scale (CCRMS) was designed to measure…

Reliability and differential item functioning (DIF) analyses were conducted on testlets displaying local item dependence in this study. The data set employed in the research was obtained from the answers given by 1,500 students to the 20 items included in six testlets given in English Proficiency Exam by the School of Foreign Languages of a state…

Large numbers of young people in the United States were in foster care or in juvenile justice custody as teenagers, and many of them have a difficult time making a successful transition to independent adulthood as they leave these systems. Most of them faced a number of disadvantages during childhood and often have poor outcomes across several…

In preparation for online administration of the ACT® test, ACT conducted studies to examine the comparability of scores between online and paper administrations, including a timing study in fall 2013, a mode comparability study in spring 2014, and a second mode comparability study in spring 2015. This report presents major findings from these…

This study examined ratings of fourth graders' oral reading expression. Randomly assigned participants (n = 36) practiced repeated readings using narrative or informational passages for 7 weeks. After this period raters used the "Multidimensional Fluency Scale" (MFS) on two separate occasions to rate students' expressive…

Observer ratings in psychotherapy are a common way of collecting information in psychotherapy research. However, human observers are imperfect instruments, and their ratings may be subject to variability from several sources. One source of variability can be raters' assessing more than 1 instrument at a time. The purpose of this research is to…

Our goal in this investigation was to evaluate the reliability of scores from the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) more comprehensively than in prior research using a generalizability-theory framework based on both dichotomous and polytomous scoring of items. Generalizability coefficients accounting for specific-factor, transient,…

Reliability estimations of workplace-based assessments with the mini-CEX are typically based on real-life data. Estimations are based on the assumption of local independence: the object of the measurement should not be influenced by the measurement itself and samples should be completely independent. This is difficult to achieve. Furthermore, the…

We developed and evaluated an Oceanography Concept Inventory (OCI), which used a mixed-methods approach to test student achievement of 11 learning goals for an introductory-level oceanography course. The OCI was designed with expert input, grounded in research on student (mis)conceptions, written with minimal jargon, tested on 464 students, and…

Language in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) allows the use of response-to-intervention (RTI) methodology in the identification of specific learning disabilities. However, there is no consensus on decision rules using curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency (CBM-R) for defining responsiveness. The…

The Circle of Security™ interventions are psychosocial treatments intended to increase maternal sensitivity and thus child attachment security in infants and young children. A small number of publications have reported empirical research on outcomes of these treatments. This article reviews the research evidence, plausibility, theoretical…