Comparisons among Small Sample Equating Methods in a Common-Item Design

Score equating based on small samples of examinees is often inaccurate for the examinee populations. We conducted a series of resampling studies to investigate the accuracy of five methods of equating in a common-item design. The methods were chained equipercentile equating of smoothed distributions, chained linear equating, chained mean equating, the symmetric circle-arc method, and the simplified circle-arc method. Four operational test forms, each containing at least 110 items, were used for the equating, with new-form samples of 100, 50, 25, and 10 examinees and reference-form samples three times as large. Accuracy was described in terms of the root-mean-squared difference (over 1,000 replications) of the sample equatings from the criterion equating. Overall, chained mean equating produced the most accurate results for low scores, but the two circle-arc methods produced the most accurate results, particularly in the upper half of the score distribution. The difference in equating accuracy between the two circle-arc methods was negligible.     

Maine's College of Human Ecology

Abstract

A sample of applicants to the 1979 Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program were surveyed twenty-six months after camp to assess possible long-term perceived benefits to program participants. Successful applicants (enrollees) served as the experimental group, unsuccessful applicants as the control group. Mean score differences on ten scales used for testing showed a consistent pattern of small benefits for the experimental group. When the treatment and control groups were categorized into increasingly definitive subgroups based on socioeconomic and demographic background variables, the magnitude of mean score differences increased greatly for certain subgroups of enrollees. Particular subgroups of enrollees showed sizable benefits not realized by other subgroups, especially when two classifying variables were used to define subgroups.     

Early non-parental care and toddler behaviour problems: Links with temperamental negative affectivity and inhibitory control

This longitudinal study examined the link between multiple aspects of early non-parental care and internalizing and externalizing behaviour at 30 months of age. We also examined whether this link was mediated by children's inhibitory control and moderated by early temperamental negative affectivity. Participants were 193 mothers and their infants (91 girls; 79 firstborn). Negative affectivity was measured with a temperament questionnaire at 3 months of age. Information on non-parental care (i.e. centre-based care, number of hours, number of concurrent arrangements, long-term instability of care and age of entry) was obtained through monthly maternal interviews across the first year of life. At 30 months of age, toddlers’ inhibitory control was measured with observational tasks, and behaviour problem questionnaires were completed by the mothers and the caregivers. The mediation model was not supported. Greater observed inhibitory control, however, was related to less caregiver-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviour. Furthermore, negative affectivity moderated the effect of early non-parental care on behaviour problems. Non-parental care was unrelated to behaviour problems in toddlers who displayed low or mean levels of negative affectivity as infants. For infants high in negativity, however, centre-based care was associated with higher mother-rated internalizing and externalizing problems. In sum, the link between aspects of non-parental care during the first year of life and toddlers’ behaviour problems was not mediated through inhibitory control. Instead, inhibitory control and non-parental care, in conjunction with negative affectivity, appear to be two independent predictors of toddlers’ internalizing and externalizing behaviour.     

A Case of Inconsistent Equatings: How the Man With Four Watches Decides What Time It Is

A simultaneous equating of four new test forms to each other and to one previous form was accomplished through a complex design incorporating seven separate equating links. Each new form was linked to the reference form by four different paths, and each path produced a different score conversion. The procedure used to resolve these inconsistencies was applied separately at each score level. Considering each equating (at a given score level) as a simple additive increment and imposing constraints on those increments led to a system of seven equations in seven unknowns. The solution produced a set of adjusted increments, so that the linking of any new form to the reference form was the same by all four possible paths.     

Student‐teachers’ conceptions of science,teaching and learning: a case study in preservice science education

The resort to experiment is considered to be essential for teaching physics. But it often consists of an inductivist method where students are supposed to be able to find physical laws by observing phenomena. In fact it is not as easy for the students as it is for the physicist. We propose and test another way. When studying a new phenomenon, an initial discussion is performed between students in the class. They can propose various (eventually contradictory) explanatory models. Experiments are then used to make a choice between these models. Sequences in class situation are described, with learning behaviour and results reported for pupils in French schools (grades 6 and 8, 11‐14‐year olds).     

On the utility of Asian critical (AsianCrit) theory in the field of education

Abstract

Despite the powerful influence of race and racism on the experiences and outcomes of Asian Americans in US education, coherent conceptual frameworks specifically focused on delineating how White supremacy shapes the lives of this population are difficult to find. The AsianCrit framework, grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the experiences and voices of Asian Americans, can begin filling this gap. In this article, we review an AsianCrit framework and examine Asian American issues in education through seven AsianCrit tenets to demonstrate their utility in the analysis of and advocacy for Asian Americans in U.S. education. We end by discussing implications of how AsianCrit can provide a framework to guide future research, policy and practice, as well as a foundation for discourse around the racialized experiences of Asians Americans and other racially marginalized groups in education.