With the growing availability of large-scale text-based data sets, there is an increasing need for an accessible and systematic way to analyze qualitative texts. This article introduces and details the contextual text coding (CTC) method as a mixed-methods approach to large-scale qualitative data analysis. The method is particularly useful for…

Quantile regression (QR) provides an alternative to linear regression (LR) that allows for the estimation of relationships across the distribution of an outcome. However, as highlighted in recent research on the motherhood penalty across the wage distribution, different procedures for conditional and unconditional quantile regression (CQR, UQR)…

This CAPR brief focuses on multiple measures assessment (MMA) implementation in the state of Arkansas, where a decentralized governance model grants colleges considerable autonomy in determining their assessment and placement policies. Despite strong evidence supporting MMA, challenges remain for its widespread adoption. As the higher education…

This paper discusses the use of specification grading in sport management courses. The process organizes assignments around grading bundles and evaluates students as either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory in meeting each assignment. A token system is created to provide flexibility to the students. There are advantages to using specification…

In the United States, opposition to traditional standardized tests is widespread, particularly obvious in the admissions context but also evident in elementary and secondary education. This opposition is fueled in significant part by the perception that tests perpetuate social injustice through their content, design, and use. To survive, as well…

The utility of the maximum likelihood F-test was demonstrated as an alternative to the omnibus Chi-square test when evaluating model fit in confirmatory factor analysis with small samples, as it has been well documented that the likelihood ratio test (T[subscript ML]) with small samples is not Chi-square distributed.

Prompted by concerns over student use of ChatGPT, staff teaching leadership and teamwork on a large university course experimented with an alternative way of assessing students' learning. Past assessment practices emphasised individual reflection and quality assurance. Aiming for a more relational approach that is aligned with the course's…

Used correctly, assessments play a vital role in the success of a course: they provide valuable feedback to students regarding their knowledge gaps, encourage deeper understanding of the material, help students to develop critical thinking, and guide students to accomplish a course's learning goals. They also provide a signal to future employers,…

Medical schools are required to assess and evaluate their curricula and to develop exam questions with strong reliability and validity evidence, often based on data derived from statistically small samples of medical students. Achieving a large enough sample to reliably and validly evaluate courses, assessments, and exam questions would require…

For ease of instruction in the classroom, the one-way analysis of variance F statistic is rewritten in terms of pairwise differences in individual sample means instead of differences of individual sample means from the overall sample mean. Likewise, the Kruskal-Wallis statistic may be rewritten in terms of pairwise differences in individual…

In 1934, 29 American secondary schools agreed to participate in a landmark study to determine whether high schools could better serve youth when given flexibility around curriculum and freedom to "experiment with the basic structure of schooling." Popularly known as the "Eight-Year Study," it bolstered movements for progressive…

This article considers the assessment of collaborative, creative theatre by students in Higher Education, made as what theatre scholar and educationalist Kathy Dacre refers to as "simulated professional practice". During UK lockdown (2020-22) for the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties arose with the assessment of students' digital and…

Assessment is used to describe the process of gathering information to make judgments about how well someone has performed, how much progress has been made, and how much potential someone has. In other words, gathering information and forming judgments are both indispensable to good teaching. Educational institutions, government agencies, and…

Assessing learners with extensive support needs has traditionally been rooted in deficit perspectives, in which student incapacities are highlighted. We start this chapter with an overview of this historical view and identify its shortcomings. Next, we identify alternate assessment and progress monitoring as key efforts for shifting the lens from…

Tests and exams are a source of stress for many students. High school teacher Jacob Wells has found that he can alleviate some of that stress by allowing students to weigh in on when their assessments are scheduled. He describes why this has been helpful and shares some of the parameters that have made it feasible.