The Reduced Reparameterized Unified Model (Reduced RUM) is a diagnostic classification model for educational assessment that has received considerable attention among psychometricians. However, the computational options for researchers and practitioners who wish to use the Reduced RUM in their work, but do not feel comfortable writing their own…

Education systems are increasingly creating rich, longitudinal data sets with frequent, and even real-time, data updates of many student measures, including daily attendance, homework submissions, and exam scores. These data sets provide an opportunity for district and school staff members to move beyond an indicators-based approach and instead…

This book meets a demand in the science education community for a comprehensive and introductory measurement book in science education. It describes measurement instruments reported in refereed science education research journals, and introduces the Rasch modeling approach to developing measurement instruments in common science assessment domains,…

This monograph provides educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with an overview of existing knowledge regarding factors that influence success among racial and ethnic minority students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) circuit. To accomplish this task, the authors reviewed more than four hundred…

This comprehensive "Handbook" focuses on the most used polytomous item response theory (IRT) models. These models help us understand the interaction between examinees and test questions where the questions have various response categories. The book reviews all of the major models and includes discussions about how and where the models…

The evaluation model presented here was developed by the West Northfield (Illinois) District 31 Evaluation Committee in collaboration with consultants from the Institute for Educational Research. Based on a review of the literature prepared by the Institute, the guide elaborates on the steps to be taken in conducting an educational program…

This paper explores the variety of qualitative methods available, in the context of a larger quantitative-qualitative debate in the field of educational evaluation. Each approach is reviewed in terms of the work of its major proponents. The dominant forms of qualitative evaluation include: (1) ethnography; (2) naturalistic inquiry; (3) generic…

This paper considers preliminary issues in the development of quality educational outcome indicators for students with disabilities within the context of current changes in general education and a conceptual model of important educational outcomes and indicators for all children. The approach and development process of the National Center on…

This report is an attempt to conceptualize a comprehensive framework for evaluating vocational education quality. It is intended to inform policymakers of the breadth of the elements of quality and to suggest an integrated framework for assessing quality to vocational education evaluation theoreticians. Chapter 1 offers preliminary considerations.…

Explains the "deliberative inquiry model," a strategy developed for investigating science education in Canada. Assumptions of the model are addressed, with information on position papers, curriculum policies, textbook analysis, teacher surveys, and case studies provided. Indicates that the project has created momentum for deliberation…

Support for public education wavers in a number of states due to a lack of evidence indicating that increased funding is associated with increases in output. Maintaining and increasing this support, however, is critical for rural communities as they seek to strengthen their human capital base as a strategy for economic growth and development. The…

The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) is rapidly progressing from the position of having an assessment program that does not work to the position of having an assessment program that does work. The perception that assessment is separate from instruction has changed to a view of assessment as part of a four-stage model including planning,…

Florida's Meritorious School Act provides monetary rewards for meritorious schools in each of the state's 67 districts when the schools are identified using approved procedures. The law calls for each district to develop its own plan for selecting winning schools. Each school must be selected in part by being in the upper quartile of district…

In the third volume of this 10-volume report, 3 causal models of the school improvement process are presented and are used to identify outcomes of implementation and the factors influencing success. The first model predicts individual-level outcomes as a function of the magnitude of expected changes in instructional practice and the time spent on…

Substantial emphasis has been placed on Florida Extension faculty evaluating their educational programs for impact and the utilization of these data for program accountability, yet little is known of the extent to which the faculty have accepted this responsibility. In order to assess the stage of adoption of impact evaluation as a practice, and…