Classroom Assessment Practices,Teacher Judgments,and Student Achievement in Mathematics: Evidence from the ECLS

In this study we use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey third- and fifth-grade samples to investigate teacher judgments of student achievement, the extent to which they offer a similar picture of student mathematics achievement compared to standardized test scores, and whether classroom assessment practices moderate the relationship between the two measures. Results indicate that teacher ratings correlate strongly with standardized test scores; however, this relationship varies considerably across teachers, and this variation is associated with certain classroom assessment practices. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that teachers evaluate student performance not in absolute terms but relative to other students in the school and that they may adjust their grading for some students, perhaps with basis on perceived differences in need and/or ability.     

Assisting,Instructing, Assessing: 21st Century Student Centered Librarianship

ABSTRACT

For librarians at the University of North Florida, there was a need to move beyond information literacy instruction to one-on-one and small group research consultations to aid in student success. By staffing the research desk with staff and students, librarians were able to open their calendars to allow more time for in-person, phone, and online consultations to aid in meeting the research goals of students at the institution. After assessing the research consultation program for two years, there has been a positive correlation between research consultation usage, satisfaction in completing assignments, and student success measures throughout the university.     

Adolescent, parent, and observer perceptions of parenting: genetic and environmental influences on shared and distinct perceptions

Agreement among reporters on features of family life, whether family members or outside observers, is considered to be low. This study, which involved a national sample of 720 families comprised of identical and fraternal twins, full siblings, half siblings, and biologically unrelated stepsiblings, examined the issue of low interrater agreement by decomposing the common and unique variance among parent, child, and observer reports of parenting behaviors (warmth and negativity) into genetic and environmental factors. Quantitative genetic analyses were employed to decompose the "Social" level of perception (common variance among parents, children, observers), the level of "Family" subculture (common variance only among parents and children), and the unique "Individual" level into genetic and environmental components. It was predicted that genetic factors would account for substantial portions of the variance at the Social and Family levels; nonshared environmental factors were expected to influence variance unique to child reports; and shared environmental factors were expected to influence variance unique to parent reports. A second and related aim of the study was to examine the subjective-objective dimension of genetic effects on measures of the environment. Results of model-fitting analyses generally supported the predictions for parental warmth and negativity at the Family and Individual levels. At the Social level, genetic factors were predominant for parental negativity and shared environmental factors for parental warmth. The findings are discussed in terms of genetically influenced child effects on parenting and methodological difficulties in constructing latent variables.     

Sibling comparison of differential parental treatment in adolescence: gender, self-esteem, and emotionality as mediators of the parenting-adjustment association

This study employs findings from social comparison research to investigate adolescents' comparisons with siblings with regard to parental treatment. The sibling comparison hypothesis was tested on a sample of 516 two-child families by examining whether gender, self-esteem, and emotionality-which have been found in previous research to moderate social comparison-also moderate sibling comparison as reflected by siblings' own evaluations of differential parental treatment. Results supported a moderating effect for self-esteem and emotionality but not gender. The sibling comparison process was further examined by using a structural equation model in which parenting toward each child was associated with the adjustment of that child and of the child's sibling. Evidence of the "sibling barricade" effect-that is, parenting toward one child being linked with opposite results on the child's sibling as on the target child-was found in a limited number of cases and interpreted as reflecting a sibling comparison process. For older siblings, emotionality and self-esteem moderated the sibling barricade effect but in the opposite direction as predicted. Results are discussed in terms of older siblings' increased sensitivity to parenting as well as the report of differential parenting reflecting the child's level of comfort and benign understanding of differential parenting, which buffers the child against environmental vicissitudes evoking sibling comparison processes.     

Measuring instructional practice in science using classroom artifacts: lessons learned from two validation studies

With growing interest in the role of teachers as the key mediators between educational policies and outcomes, the importance of developing good measures of classroom processes has become increasingly apparent. Yet, collecting reliable and valid information about a construct as complex as instruction poses important conceptual and technical challenges. This article summarizes the results of two studies that investigated the properties of measures of instruction based on a teacher‐generated instrument (the Scoop Notebook) that combines features of portfolios and self‐report. Classroom artifacts and teacher reflections were collected from samples of middle school science classrooms and rated along 10 dimensions of science instruction derived from the National Science Education Standards; ratings based on direct classroom observations were used as comparison. The results suggest that instruments that combine artifacts and self‐reports hold promise for measuring science instruction with reliability similar to, and sizeable correlations with, measures based on classroom observation. We discuss the implications and lessons learned from this work for the conceptualization, design, and use of artifact‐based instruments for measuring instructional practice in different contexts and for different purposes. Artifact‐based instruments may illuminate features of instruction not apparent even through direct classroom observation; moreover, the process of structured collection and reflection on artifacts may have value for professional development. However, their potential value and applicability on a larger scale depends on careful consideration of the match between the instrument and the model of instruction, the intended uses of the measures, and the aspects of classroom practice most amenable to reliable scoring through artifacts. We outline a research agenda for addressing unresolved questions and advancing theoretical and practical knowledge around the measurement of instructional practice. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 38–67, 2012     

The struggle for comprehensive education in the Netherlands: the representation of secondary school innovation in Dutch newspaper articles in the 1970s

This article focuses on how Dutch newspapers represented the debate in the Netherlands in the 1970s on comprehensive education and thus influenced the Dutch Middle School experiment. Wiborg’s identification of key factors of success in Scandinavia was used as a point of reference. The article shows that these key factors did not exist in the Netherlands because of the polarisation of liberals and social democrats. Furthermore, the article shows how newspapers played different roles, varying from disseminators of new ideas to sparking debate and from communicators of political views to a barometer, consequently influencing the political strategies chosen.     

Conducting Simulation Studies in Psychometrics

Simulation studies are fundamental to psychometric discourse and play a crucial role in operational and academic research. Yet, resources for psychometricians interested in conducting simulations are scarce. This Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement Series (ITEMS) module is meant to address this deficiency by providing a comprehensive introduction to the topic of simulation that can be easily understood by measurement specialists at all levels of training and experience. Specifically, this module describes the vocabulary used in simulations, reviews their applications in recent literature, and recommends specific guidelines for designing simulation studies and presenting results. Additionally, an example (including computer code in R) is given to demonstrate how common aspects of simulation studies can be implemented in practice and to provide a template to help users build their own simulation.