An Application of Score Equity Assessment: Invariance of Linkage of New SAT® to Old SAT Across Gender Groups

The College Board's SAT^® data are used to illustrate how the score equity assessment (SEA) can help inform the program about equatability. SEA is used to examine whether the content change(s) to the revised new SAT result in differential linking functions across gender groups. Results of population sensitivity analyses are reported on the linkage of the new SAT critical reading (CR) prototype to an old SAT verbal (OV). Based on the criteria used in this study, population invariance was achieved with respect to gender groups.     

Tutoring deaf students in higher education: a comparison of baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate student perceptions

Seventy-three deaf college students completed a survey examining perceptions about tutoring outcomes and emphases, characteristics of tutors, and responsibilities associated with learning through tutoring. The comparisons revealed that while baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate students have many similar perceptions about tutoring, there are also some striking differences. In particular, as compared to the sub-baccalaureate students, baccalaureate students have a stronger preference for focusing on course content and for working with tutors who actively involve them during the tutoring sessions. In addition, baccalaureate students prefer to decide the focus of the tutoring themselves while sub-baccalaureate students tend to leave the decision to the tutor. The results of the analyses with three scales measuring perceptions of tutoring dimensions are summarized and recommendations for the selection and preparation of tutors, as well as for future research, are provided.     

Which events can cause iteration in instructional design? An empirical study of the design process

Instructional design is not a linear process: designers have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of alternative solutions, taking into account different kinds of conflicting and changing constraints. To make sure that they eventually choose the most optimal one, they have to keep on collecting information, reconsidering continuously whether their own decisions are still justified in the light of the latest insights. We have studied the role of iteration during instructional design. For our research, we have used an ISD-based method for the specification of training simulators. During our empirical evaluation study, we introduced five events that are likely to cause iteration. The results show that the quality of the designs is not directly related to the amount of iteration. We conclude that there are different kinds of iteration, triggered by different kinds of actions and events. We propose a list of triggers for iteration some of which originate from outside (new information, new opinions/arguments and acquisition procedures); others are caused by, or evolve from interaction with the design process itself (discovery of missing input, need to repair errors, new insights based on work later on in the design process, and new ideas of the designers). in final form: 4 August 2005     

THE LECTURER'S LOT: MYTH AND REALITY

A number of reports of the use of time analysis systems as a basis of self‐evaluation is available. This article provides data collected over a year by a head of department performing a lecturer's role. While of value as a means of self evaluation, the data raises some major issues in terms of the management of departments in general and of those in the public sector of higher eduction in England and Wales in particular. The implications in relation to presumed conditions of service and to the elaboration of the role of the lecturer with the growth in demands for accountability and participation in decision‐making are examined.     

An afterschool intervention program for educationally disadvantaged young children

The research investigated the premise that if educationally disadvantaged children experience increased instructional time combined with an educational setting that is sensitive to their culture and that provides perceptions of control, enhanced achievement and interest in learning will result. The research setting was the Hilltop Emergent Literacy Project (HELP), an afterschool educational program serving poor, mostly African American five- to nine-year-olds (kindergarten to third grade) who reside in a subsidized apartment complex. A treatment group of 12 kindergartners was compared to a control group of 12 kindergartners. In the spring of kindergarten, the treatment group was outperforming the control group on standardized test scores, but both groups were below national norms. In the spring of first grade, the treatment group was still outperforming the control group and was above national norms in some areas. Report card data and qualitative indicators also provide evidence of the effectiveness of the program.We thank the Hilltop Emergent Literacy Project (HELP) head teachers Teresa Bunge and Diana Reamsnyder, the HELP students, and the many graduate and undergraduate students who have served at HELP. This program was partially funded through grants from the University of Toledo, Ohio Board of Regents, General Mills Foundation, and Toledo Public Schools.     

The veridicality of punitive childhood experiences reported by adolescents and young adults

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of the present research was to determine whether retrospective reports of childhood disciplinary experiences and perceptions of that discipline correspond to actual childhood events and whether the accuracy of that report was influenced by the affective state of the respondent. METHOD: Eighty-three adolescent and young adult males completed a retrospective measure of physical child maltreatment, Assessing Environments (AEIII), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). As children the participants had been observed naturalistically in their homes interacting with their parents an average of 10 years earlier. RESULTS: Analyses were consistent with the hypothesis that both current mood and actual observations of parent-child interactions during childhood predict self-reported recollections of childhood maltreatment by one's parents. Further the veridicality of such recollections appears to depend upon the objective specificity versus the perceptive nature of the questions used to elicit the recollections. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that assessment instruments suitable for obtaining information regarding earlier childhood victimization must utilize behaviorally specific items. Thus, items that are either global or intimate a normative comparison should be avoided.     

Differential costs of curricula in Illinois public junior colleges: Some implications for the future

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the annual cost of operation including depreciation of movable capital equipment for educating one student in each curriculum of selected community colleges and to show the relationship of costs of vocational-technical curricula to the cost for common baccalaureate oriented curricula.A stratified sample of eight community colleges was drawn from those that had been in operation for at least five years.These data indicate that a majority of the courses offered in highly specialized curricula in both the occupational and baccalaureate categories were more expansive than those courses that were common to a wide variety of curricula.This study supports differential program funding to assure continued development of high quality vocational-technical programs in community colleges.