Comparability in Balanced Assessment Systems for State Accountability

The purpose of this study was to test methods that strengthen the comparability claims about annual determinations of student proficiency in English language arts, math, and science (Grades 3–12) in the New Hampshire Performance Assessment of Competency Education (NH PACE) pilot project. First, we examined the literature in order to define comparability outside the bounds of strict score interchangeability and explored methods for estimating comparability that support a balanced assessment system for state accountability such as the NH PACE pilot. Second, we applied two strategies—consensus scoring and a rank‐ordering method—to estimate comparability in Year 1 of the NH PACE pilot based upon the expert judgment of 85 teachers using 396 student work samples. We found the methods were effective for providing evidence of comparability and also detecting when threats to comparability were present. The evidence did not indicate meaningful differences in district average scoring and therefore did not support adjustments to district‐level cut scores used to create annual determinations. The article concludes with a discussion of the technical challenges and opportunities associated with innovative, balanced assessment systems in an accountability context.     

Partisan Media and Discussion as Enhancers of the Belief Gap

This study examines the roles of partisanship, partisan media use, and political discussion in the development of belief gaps. Using national survey data, we construct models of political identity, media use, and discussion factors predicting beliefs on five contested political issues and find that ideology and partisanship are generally stronger predictors of beliefs than is education. Notably, each has independent effects on belief outcomes. Contrary to some concerns that the Internet especially promotes partisan clustering, use of partisan traditional media—television and radio—is by far the strongest information-related predictor of belief outcomes, whereas partisan social media use and partisan discussion are relatively weak and inconsistent. These findings suggest that political elites continue to exert significant influence over the perceptions of rank and file partisans.     

Classroom Age Composition and Vocabulary Development Among At-Risk Preschoolers

Research Findings: The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between classroom age composition and preschoolers’ vocabulary gains over an academic year and also to examine whether these relations were moderated by classroom quality. In this study (N = 130 children in 16 classrooms representing a subset of all children enrolled in these classrooms), results showed a significant cross-level interaction between classroom age composition and children's age, suggesting positive effects of greater variance in classroom age composition for younger but not older children. The interaction between behavior management (1 dimension of classroom quality) and classroom age composition was also significant, indicating that a wider distribution of classroom age composition was positively related to children's vocabulary gains within classrooms characterized by better behavior management. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the importance of children's social interactions with more knowledgeable conversational partners in promoting their vocabulary development and signify the need to help teachers learn how to manage children's behaviors so as to provide a classroom that is optimal for child learning.     

CD-ROM project management: A case study

This article describes a CD-ROM test disc project planned to gain firsthand knowledge of the production process, and to deliver a disc that will be used to analyze the potential market for full-text publications on CD-ROM. It describes getting started in the field, details the project planning process, and explains how to gather resources, schedule the project, and develop a work breakdown schedule. In this kind of project,task definition andcollaboration with other organizations are the crucial components for success. Virginia Meade led the team that produced Bellcore’s first CD-ROM disc. She has worked as a senior project manager in the Information Management Services division at Bellcore for the past three years, and chaired the Information Technology district’s electronic publishing services group. Address for correspondence     

Evaluate to Improve Learning: Reflecting on the role of teaching and learning models

Focusing attention on models of teaching and learning during design and development phases can become the key to integrating evaluation in a teaching development project. This article reflects on an experience in planning and conducting an evaluation of a prototype of a new technology-based teaching initiative. The learning experiences designed as part of the prototype were explicitly built on a model of teaching and learning. This had implications for evaluation not recognised in many evaluation manuals. Aligning evaluation to a model of teaching and learning is revealed to be complex in the sense that an initial model needs to be interpreted and extended to include reference to underlying epistemological assumptions. Yet aligning evaluation with an extended model of teaching and learning simplifies and assists the process of evaluation including the choice of methods, analysis of the data and determining improvements. It directly links evaluation to design and development.     

Project ASSIST institute: An orton-gillingham/spalding based curriculum for teachers and volunteers

In spite of our best efforts, our son Andrew did not learn to read until he attended the Jemicy School at the age of 12. Our search for help and eventual success led me to take the Orton-Gillingham approach into the public schools of Delaware, first with volunteers and then with teachers. In 1991-92, the Milford School District did a Pre-Post Design pilot using the Woodcock Johnson Reading Mastery Test for decoding and comprehension and the WRAT Revised for spelling. The results are included. Another pilot with a control group from another school district is being done in 1992-93 and a third pilot is being planned for New Castle County, Delaware in 1993-94. Training for teachers in the juvenile justice system is also planned for 1993-94.