Scoring Stability in a Large‐Scale Assessment Program: A Longitudinal Analysis of Leniency/Severity Effects

Although much attention has been given to rater effects in rater‐mediated assessment contexts, little research has examined the overall stability of leniency and severity effects over time. This study examined longitudinal scoring data collected during three consecutive administrations of a large‐scale, multi‐state summative assessment program. Multilevel models were used to assess the overall extent of rater leniency/severity during scoring and examine the extent to which leniency/severity effects were stable across the three administrations. Model results were then applied to scaled scores to estimate the impact of the stability of leniency/severity effects on students’ scores. Results showed relative scoring stability across administrations in mathematics. In English language arts, short constructed response items showed evidence of slightly increasing severity across administrations, while essays showed mixed results: evidence of both slightly increasing severity and moderately increasing leniency over time, depending on trait. However, when model results were applied to scaled scores, results revealed rater effects had minimal impact on students’ scores.     

Christian Higher Education in the United States: The Crisis of Evangelical Identity

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is the most successful higher education organization to emerge from the modern American evangelical movement. Especially within the context of the United States, higher education has been a key element of neo-evangelicalism since the 1940s. Rather than choosing between biblical truth and cultural outreach, post–World War II neo-evangelicals called the church toward a thoughtful approach to address the needs of the world. The early movement was focused not only on evangelistic ministry efforts, but also on education as a primary means for shaping the culture. As modern evangelicalism took shape in the 1950s, the movement struggled to find a consistent moral voice. From early challenges related to the civil rights movement to current debates over poverty and immigration, evangelicals have engaged with cultural issues, but with a wide variety of strategies and viewpoints. Political issues have brought evangelicals into public life, and some leaders have used elections as the primary means for promoting moral concerns. Consequently, the public may often view U.S. evangelicals as activists concerned with political voting rather than as sincere followers of Christ who are committed to social ethics. Yet, the Christian college represents a significant platform for sustaining evangelical thought in public life. Evangelicalism has suffered a fracturing in the last decade or so, and the term now carries a negative connotation in some circles. Many colleges in the CCCU are searching for a new way to describe their evangelical identity. The historical meaning of the term evangelical focused on gospel proclamation and social reform. A return to this emphasis, as well as an alignment with the international focus of evangelical movement, can provide a more accurate and consistent legacy for evangelical institutions.     

Changing minds or rhetoric? How students use their many natures of science to talk about evolution

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Recommendations for teaching the nature of science (NOS) are grounded in a deficit view of students and/or the public—wherein people accept...     

IQ = 69 = mildly retarded?: Factors influencing multidisciplinary team recommendations on children with FSIQs between 63 and 75

Discriminant analysis was used to examine factors that influenced the educational diagnoses of a sample of 80 referred students in grades 1 to 6. All students had WISCR Full Scale IQs between 63 and 75, which includes the range of scores that is ±2 SEm around the cutoff value of 69 used by the student's school district to define the upper limit of the mildly retarded classification. The results indicate that the recommendations made by the multidisciplinary teams were associated primarily with the level of the Full Scale IQ.     

Factor analysis of the abbreviated conners teacher rating scale: Implications for the assessment of hyperactivity

A factor analysis of the abbreviated Conners Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) was completed using a sample of 108 regular and special education students. Two factors accounted for 69.5% of the total response variance: Factor I consisted of items describing attention deficits and motor activity, and Factor II consisted of items describing excessive affective reactions. It is suggested that the abbreviated CTRS be interpreted with respect to its latent structure, rather than to one global score as has been common practice.     

Preliminary norms and technical data for use of the Revised-Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale with kindergarten children

The Revised-Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978) was administered to 97 kindergarten children. Coefficient alpha reliabilities of .79 for males (N = 53), .85 for females (N = 44), and .82 for the total sample resulted. Contrary to findings with older children, no sex differences occurred in scoring on the anxiety scale. The kindergarten children generally scored higher on the anxiety scale than did older children. Lie scale scores were comparable to those of other primary grade children. Implications for use of the scale with young children are discussed.