Evaluating the Comparability of Paper‐ and Computer‐Based Science Tests Across Sex and SES Subgroups

As access and reliance on technology continue to increase, so does the use of computerized testing for admissions, licensure/certification, and accountability exams. Nonetheless, full computer‐based test (CBT) implementation can be difficult due to limited resources. As a result, some testing programs offer both CBT and paper‐based test (PBT) administration formats. In such situations, evidence that scores obtained from different formats are comparable must be gathered. In this study, we illustrate how contemporary statistical methods can be used to provide evidence regarding the comparability of CBT and PBT scores at the total test score and item levels. Specifically, we looked at the invariance of test structure and item functioning across test administration mode across subgroups of students defined by SES and sex. Multiple replications of both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch differential item functioning analyses were used to assess invariance at the factorial and item levels. Results revealed a unidimensional construct with moderate statistical support for strong factorial‐level invariance across SES subgroups, and moderate support of invariance across sex. Issues involved in applying these analyses to future evaluations of the comparability of scores from different versions of a test are discussed.     

INTERNAL FACTOR STRUCTURE AND CONVERGENT VALIDITY EVIDENCE: THE SELF‐REPORT VERSION OF SELF‐REGULATION STRATEGY INVENTORY

Using a sample of 348 middle school students, we gathered evidence regarding the internal consistency of scores, as well as the internal factor structure and convergent validity evidence for inferences from a self‐report questionnaire called the Self‐Regulation Strategy Inventory–Self Report. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the fit indexes for a hierarchical model (composite, three factors) and a single‐level, three‐factor model were highly similar but mixed. Respecification of the hierarchical model based on conceptual overlap of items led to substantial improvement in the overall fit of the model, as indicated by the root mean square error of approximation, chi‐square/df, and the comparative fit index. Correlational analyses also provided strong convergent validity evidence, as the three subscales exhibited statistically significant relations with four motivation beliefs (i.e., self‐efficacy, perceived instrumentality, task interest, perceived responsibility) and two distinct markers of regulation‐related behaviors (i.e., teacher ratings, office discipline referrals).     

Turning in or tuning out? Listening to silences in education for critical political consciousness

What happens when a team of university education researchers initiates a social justice learning project in a local high school, and – despite the overall project’s considerable successes in cultivating students’ critical political ‘voice’ – is confounded by the periodic, apparent ‘silences’ of some of its young female students? Drawing on eight years of fieldwork in a groundbreaking high school social justice education classroom, this article examines the presumptions inherent in certain forms of social justice pedagogy, and the ways in which ensuing classroom disjunctures may, in fact, lead to deeper insights about education for youth critical social consciousness. The article focuses on two, interrelated issues: the unsettling and sometimes confounding ‘silences’ of female students and the correlation between such silences and social justice educators’ attenuated ability to recognize and support the myriad ways in which minority female students may encounter, negotiate, and articulate their own particular forms of Freirian conscientización.     

The relation between abuse and violent delinquency: the conversion of shame to blame in juvenile offenders

Objective

While the relationship between abusive parenting and violent delinquency has been well established, the cognitive and emotional processes by which this occurs remain relatively unidentified. The objective of this work is to apply a conceptual model linking abusive parenting to the conversion of shame into blaming others and therefore to violent delinquency.

Methods

A retrospective study of 112 adolescents (90 male; 22 female; ages 12-19 years; M = 15.6; SD = 1.4) who were incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility pending criminal charges, completed measures of exposure to abusive and nonabusive discipline, expressed and converted shame, and violent delinquency.

Results

Findings tend to confirm the conceptual model. Subjects who converted shame (i.e., low expressed shame, high blaming others) tended to have more exposure to abusive parenting and showed more violent delinquent behavior than their peers who showed expressed shame. Subjects who showed expressed shame (i.e., high expressed shame, low blaming others) showed less violent delinquency than those who showed converted shame.

Conclusions

Abusive parenting impacts delinquency directly and indirectly through the effects of shame that is converted. Abusive parenting leads to the conversion of shame to blaming others, which in turn leads to violent delinquent behavior.

Practice implications

For juvenile offenders, the conversion of shame into blaming others appears to contribute to pathological outcomes in relation to trauma. Translation of this work into clinical practice is recommended.     

Managing Patient-centered Communication across the Type 2 Diabetes Illness Trajectory: A Grounded Practical Theory of Interactional Sensitivity

This article uses the theoretical and methodological framework of Grounded Practical Theory (GPT) to provide a lens for analyzing and interpreting discourse as a situated form of social action in routine Type 2 diabetes visits. Drawing on a total data-set of 400 audio-recorded routine visits, we randomly selected 55 visits for qualitative analysis. In this article, we use Conversation Analysis to document communication techniques, which we in turn use as evidence to ground our claims within the GPT framework. We use two single cases of interaction to analyze communication techniques physicians use when recommending a change from oral medication to insulin. We argue treatment intensification is a key moment in health communication to reflect about patient centeredness because physicians can find themselves in an interactional dilemma: while insulin may effectively help control unstable disease, an insulin recommendation may simultaneously counter patient values and treatment preferences. Our analysis suggests that physicians use what we call interactional sensitivity to balance medical need and patient preferences when making medical decisions by tailoring their communication according to the local situation and the patient's larger illness trajectory. We propose that interactional sensitivity is a type of communication work and a quality of patient-centered communication characterized by the theoretical relationship between tailoring communication to the contingencies of the local interaction and the global illness trajectory. Overall, this article contributes to health communication scholarship by proposing a normative model for reflecting on how physicians negotiate challenging interactions with patients during routine chronic illness visits.     

Integration of Electronic Communication in Higher Education: Contributions of Faculty Computer Self-Efficacy

How confident are college faculty to integrate technology in their teaching? This study examined relationships between faculty computer self-efficacy and integration of electronic communication when teaching. Faculty at a Research I land-grant university were mailed a self-report questionnaire yielding a 59 percent response rate. Over half used electronic communication in their courses, mostly for course-related announcements and deadlines, but least for synchronous communication. Computer self-efficacy scores differed on age, gender, college, integration, and computer experience. Low integrators and female faculty reported lower confidence in using computers. As universities offer courses with significant Web-presence, faculty development efforts need to increase self-efficacy by providing hands-on experiences in technologically supported environments.     

The use of a collaborative math tutoring model to improve content knowledge among special education teacher candidates

ABSTRACT

The mathematics achievement gap in special education is a chronic and significant challenge for the field. The need for improved teacher preparation in mathematics is crucial in addressing this gap. This study examines a capstone experience in higher level mathematics tutoring for preservice teachers. Results indicate that the experience was effective at improving preservice teachers’ higher level math content knowledge compared to teachers who did not receive experiential math learning in their teacher preparation. Implications for preservice teacher preparation programs are presented.     

Annual Research Update

Each year, the Journal of Jewish Education will publish an annotated bibliography of research in Jewish education that has been produced in the past year. (The first update includes research produced from 2003–2005.) Criteria for listing in the annual update include that the research contains data relevant to Jewish education and that a report on the research is available to scholars, either online or through the author and/or sponsoring agency. Researchers and institutions wishing to have research reports included in future Research Updates may submit information about how to access the research reports to JournalofJEd@aol.com.