Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the nature and operations of schools commonly regarded as "Miracle Examination Centres (MECs)" in Nigeria, through the lens of stakeholders in education. This study also assessed stakeholders' perspectives on the possible solutions to the problem of MECs. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Retrospective pretests ask respondents to report after an intervention on their aptitudes, knowledge, or beliefs before the intervention. A primary reason to administer a retrospective pretest is that in some situations, program participants may over the course of an intervention revise or recalibrate their prior understanding of program content,…

With the introduction of a new initiative in a teaching and learning environment there is an ethical responsibility to consider whether the impact of the introduction has met its intended goals, and whether it has harmed those who are influenced by it. Technology and infrastructure developments have encouraged a continued growth in the development…

Language teachers are expected to engage in classroom assessment practices and report on learners' progress aligned with proficiency standards, as well as prepare learners for external examinations. The term "language assessment literacy" (LAL) describes what the constituency of language instructors needs to know about assessment…

We investigated the use and validity of standardized achievement tests for summative evaluation of 78 educational intervention projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) math and science education program. Investigators from 46 projects evaluated curricular interventions with standardized achievement tests as outcome measures.…

The case is presented of an 8-year-old boy who was referred for psycho-educational assessment because of difficulties with writing. The article provides an example of the way in which a case unfolds as further assessment data become available, and describes a number of challenging aspects of the assessment process. In this case, dilemmas arose…

Making causal inferences from a quasi-experiment is difficult. Sensitivity analysis approaches to address hidden selection bias thus have gained popularity. This study serves as an introduction to a simple but practical form of sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation procedures. We examine estimated treatment effects for a school-based…

Applied linguists should strive to ensure that the tests they design and use are not only fair and socially acceptable, but also have positive effects--this, in light of the fact that tests can sometimes have far-reaching and often detrimental effects on test-takers. What this paper will attempt to do, is highlight how this concern for responsible…

This study investigated the Counselling strategies for curbing "Examination Malpractices" in Secondary Schools in Enugu State Nigeria. The researcher used three research questions. The Design used was a descriptive survey design. Sample consisted of 335 respondents comprising principals (N = 19), PTA secretaries (N = 19), teachers (N =…

The Academic Performance Index (API) is the centerpiece of California's state assessment and accountability system. With the recent passage of SB1458 and the pending reauthorization of both state and federal accountability legislation, there is now an unprecedented opportunity to improve the API for next generation accountability in California. In…

Recent studies indicate that examiners make a number of intentional and unintentional errors when administering reading assessments to students. Because these errors introduce construct-irrelevant variance in scores, the fidelity of test administrations could influence the results of evaluation studies. To determine how assessment fidelity is…

The paper outlines identification and social problems regarding the gifted bilingual bicultural student and offers suggestions to parents and teachers for alleviating those problems. Noted among problems in identification is that minority students may not exhibit behaviors and characteristics which are recognized as manifestation of talents and…

Meta-Analysis of 59 studies revealed that neither the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception nor the Frostig program for the development of visual perception was advantageous for handicapped students. (CL)

Presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference in San Diego in May 2005. This presentation explores the issues and problems with declining response rates to the questionnaire once test registration moved from paper format to a web platform. A decline would affect research over time so interventions were put in place…

Two studies were conducted based on a methodological criticism of J. Gordon and H. Haywood's (1969) research on stimulus enrichment procedures with cultural-familial and brain-damaged retarded persons. (Author)