Criterionced Tests: Part 11. Unfinished Business

What was the origin of the concept of criterion-referenced measurement? How has the concept evolved over the years? What are some key factors that should influence how we think about CRTs?     

An Application of Item Response Theory in the Comparison of Four Conventional Item Discrimination Indices for Criterion-Referenced Tests

Several recent papers have argued for the usefulness of item response theory (IRT) methods of assessing item discrimination power for criterion-referenced tests (CRTs). Conventional methods continue to be used more widely, however, for reasons that include some practical constraints associated with the use of IRT methods. To provide users with information that may help them to decide on which conventional indices to employ in evaluating CRT items, Spearman rank-order correlations were computed between IRT-derived item information functions (llFs) and four conventional discrimination indices: the phi-coefficient, the B-index, phi/phi max, and the agreement statistic. The rank-order correlations between the phi-coefficient and the llFs were very high, with a median of .96. The remaining conventional indices, with the exception of phi-over-phi-max, also correlated well with the IIF. Theoretical explanations for these relationships are offered.     

Individualised educational programmes. Part I: a literature review

This review was undertaken as part of a research project commissioned by the Scottish Executive and carried out by a team from Glasgow and Newcastle Universities between January 2000 and January 2001 when the report was published ( Banks et al., 2001 ). The research study, entitled 'Raising the Attainment of Pupils with Special Educational Needs', followed the issuing of new guidelines ( SOEID, 1998a ; SEED, 1999 ) which linked the use of individualised educational programmes (IEPs) to the wider political enterprise of raising standards through target-setting.     

Interest in biology. Part I: A multidimensional construct

Interest in a school subject (e.g., biology) is conceptualized in terms of three components: topics, activities, and motives, each of which has several dimensions. In this study, seven instruments were developed and administered to grade-10 biology students in Israel. Factor analysis provided support for the conceptualization which underlies the development of the instruments. Topic dimensions included biochemical processes, nonhuman organisms, human biology, personal hygiene, and practical applications; the activity dimensions were experiential learning, reception learning, writing/summarizing and group discussion; motives included environmental issues, moral issues, examination success, personal independence, problem solving, and four career dimensions (research, high-status professions, lower-status careers, “woodsy-birdsy” careers). In an analysis described in Part II of this paper, the students were classified into four groups on the basis of their grade-11 subject enrollment intentions: H (high-level biology), L (low-level biology), P (physical science), and N (no science). Zero-order and multiple correlations were found between interest and other variables and membership/nonmembership of the four groups. Students in Group H were characterized by higher achievement in year-10 biology, higher levels of enjoyment of biology, career orientations towards research or high-status biology-based professions, greater interest in various biology topics, especially reproduction/cell division/genetics, and a greater tendency to regard the Bagrut (grade-12) examination as interesting. Students in Group N displayed lower levels of interest in various topics (especially the microscope, plants, and reproduction), were less motivated to solve problems, had poorer grades in biology (and chemistry), were less likely to perceive biology as useful, were less likely to regard the Bagrut examination as fair, and were less likely to be interested in social modes of learning. There were few associations between interest variables and membership in Groups L or P.     

Criterion-Referenced Measmment: A Valwable Perspective Clouded by Surplus Meaning

What is the relevance of criterion-referenced measurement to the performance-based assessment movement? Why do we need to strip away surplus meaning from the term criterion-referenced measurement? What confusions exist around the place of cut scores and other concepts in CRT?     

Reclaiming Kindergarten: Part I. Questions about Theory and Practice

The purpose of this article is to describe the crisis that exists in kindergarten today related to maintaining developmentally and culturally appropriate practice while at the same time addressing the academic standards set forth by most states. In Part I, three questions are posed, the answers to which seek to elucidate possible solutions to this dilemma. The questions center on issues related to developmentally appropriate practice, intentional teaching, and assessment. Research and expert opinion associated to each of these areas are discussed, and examples of classroom practice are used to illustrate the effective implementation of these principles in a kindergarten classroom.     

You Say Potato,I Say . . . Part II

The final two articles for the special issue on gender are reviewed. Gender makes a difference in the way children are seen in our schools. It is less clear if teacher expectations vary by gender of psychologists. The importance of accepting-even embracing-diversity is highlighted. The impact of the articles on the discussant is to raise rather than to answer many questions.     

我国大规模英语水平考试偏重选择题的倾向亟待纠正（一）

我国外语水平测试过多采用选择题的倾向对实施素质教育是非常不利的。之所以出现这种情况，主要是由于我们对客观测试方式的认识尚不全面，尤其没有意识到它对外语教学可能造成的负面影响，而只是一味地追求和利用它对考试本身的应用价值。为了澄清一些模糊认识，本第一部分回顾了客观测试方法的由来，列举了它的优势和弊端。并指出目前我们对选择题的使用已经达到相当不合理的程度。     

Substituting SAT II: Subject Tests for SAT I: Reasoning Tests: Impact on Admitted Class Composition and Quality

Using data from a sample of 10 colleges at which most students had taken both SAT I: Reasoning tests and SAT II: Subject tests, we simulated the effects of making selection decisions using SAT II scores in place of SAT I scores. Specifically, we treated the students in each college as forming the applicant pool for a more select college, and then selected the top two thirds (and top one third) of the students using high school grade point average combined with either SAT I scores or the average of SAT II scores. Success rates, in terms of first-year grade point averages, were virtually identical for students selected by the different models. The percentage of African American, Asian American, and White students selected varied only slightly across models. Appreciably more Mexican American and Other Latino students were selected with the model that used SAT II scores in place of SAT I scores because these students submitted subject test scores for the Spanish test on which they had high scores.     

Adolescents at risk for mistreating their children. Part I: Prenatal identification

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Family Stress Checklist helps prenatal care providers identify adolescents who are at risk for mistreating their children. METHODS: We studied 262 participants in a comprehensive, adolescent-oriented maternity program. During the prenatal period, the Family Stress Checklist was used to quantify abuse potential, with scores >25 defining high risk. Information about the social context of the pregnancy and the pattern of health care utilization was obtained with a self-administered questionnaire, and by reviewing the medical records. Major disruption of primary care giving by the adolescent mother was classified hierarchically as abuse, neglect, and abandonment. RESULTS: Family Stress Checklist scores ranged from 0 to 65 (mean + SD = 20.1 + 1.4); 113 (43%) of the 262 teenagers were classified as high risk. High and low risk adolescent mothers made an equivalent number of health maintenance and Emergency Department visits, but the high risk group initiated significantly more acute care visits (6.0 + 4.1 compared to 3.9 + 3.3; p < .0001). After controlling for pre-existing sociodemographic differences, high risk 1-year-olds were 8.41 (95% CI: 1.77-40.01) times and high risk 2-year-olds 5.19 (95% CI: 1.99-13.60) times more likely to have been mistreated than their low risk counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal care providers can use the Family Stress Checklist to systematically identify a subgroup of adolescent mother whose excessive use of the acute medical care services and propensity for mistreating their children suggests the need for additional support services.     

Attachment and the child in school. Part I

Abstract

Using the framework of Attachment Theory and related research and the research and experience of the author, a particular pattern of behaviour is described which can be identified in the classroom. This pattern, known as the Anxious Resistant/Ambivalent Attachment Pattern, is described from a teaching and learning perspective and is illustrated with examples from educational practice. Possible opportunities for intervention are discussed aimed at facilitating change in the pupil and enhancing emotional well being and educational opportunity. This article will be followed by another (Part II) describing other patterns of attachment which have been identified, with the aim of extending the teacher's understanding of the meaning of pupil behaviour and increasing the resilience potential in the learning situation.     

Questioning questioning Part I

Research in Science Education -     

Conclusions of Part I

Educational planning, the attempt to adapt the skill structure of the labor force to scientific and technical progress, has failed in Italy for two reasons. The poor political possibilities for implementing planning, including planning in education, have checked attempts to put ideas into practice. Instead, the uncontrolled demand for education has made possible the growth of institutions which planning regarded as being of less urgent importance. Second, the foundations of planning have proven to be unsound, because changes in the job structure have not generally been in the direction of higher qualification; rather, a dual tendency has existed with regard to the need for labor. The continued increase in the need for manpower without any prior specialized training, on the one hand, and the need for a higher level of specialization for a smaller, if increasing, segment of the labor force, on the other, have invalidated the assumption that a general rise in level of qualification would be necessary.     

Conclusions of Part I

I. The comprehensive studies that have been made of French economic and social planning, which includes planning of employment as well as educational planning, have hastened an awareness of the need to promote vocational training research on a systematic basis. Difficulties in coordinating job planning and educational planning - stemming, in particular, from a lack of knowledge of the relation between the institutions that impart skills and those that put such skills to use - gave rise to the realization that some form of government-run institutionalized vocational research was necessary. In 1970 the National Institute for Studies and Research in Occupational Skills (CEREQ) was founded. The CEREQ studies potentially relevant for our present purposes have not yet been completed; therefore, we were unable to include them in our report.     

Menus for toddlers in Day Care: Part I

In this and the next three issues of Day Care and Early Education,we will provide a total of four weeks' worth of menus for toddlers. Some findings of the Living Environments Group at the University of Kansas were described in the last issue (“Facts and Fancies about Children's Foods,” by Marion O'Brien). This installment's introductory section explains how the menus were developed and how the recipes can be used. Additional advice and information will be included with the future sections. Tood R. Risley is Professor of Human Development and Director of the Living Environments Group at the University of Kansas. Emily Herbert-Jackson managed the nutrition research project described here in her capacity as Research Associate in the Bureau of Child Research at the University of Kansas. She is now associated with Children's Behavioral Services, Reno, Nevada. Marion O'Brien is a writer for the Living Environments Group. The authors wish especially to thank Kathy Erwin for her contribution to the development of these menus, as well as all the staff and children at the Toddler Center.     

Part I: Crisis and Opportunity in Transnational Education

The author, the Vice‐Chancellor and President of Central Queensland University in Australia, argues that globalization and the new information technologies permit a deconstruction of the functions of the vertically integrated typical university. Thus, some of these functions, particularly the offering of instructional services, the evaluation of acquired knowledge and skills, and the credentialling of graduates can be accomplished separately, often electronically, at locations distant from the main campus, and at a lower cost to the learner than attendance at a typical and traditional university. The author describes the operation of four for‐profit branch “outlets” of his university, a public institution, in partnership with Campus Management Services, a private for‐profit business. He considers that such for‐profit operations are the wave of the future and that if traditional typical universities survive it will only be as the result of their socialization and character‐building functions.