Long-term synaptic plasticity exhibits distinct phases. The synaptic tagging hypothesis suggests an early phase in which synapses are prepared, or "tagged," for protein capture, and a late phase in which those proteins are integrated into the synapses to achieve memory consolidation. The synapse specificity of the tags is consistent with…

A considerable amount of research has been undertaken to provide insights into the valid assessment of team performance. However, in many settings, manual and therefore labor-intensive assessment instruments for team performance have limitations. Therefore, automated assessment instruments enable more flexible and detailed insights into the…

Across the country, states and districts are designing principal evaluation systems as a means of improving leadership, learning, and school performance. Principal evaluation systems hold potential for supporting leaders' learning and sense of accountability for instructional excellence and student performance. Principal evaluation also is an…

In the United States, but not only here, the movement to evaluate teachers based on student test scores has received powerful political and parental support. The logic is simple. From one testing occasion to another students should show growth in their knowledge and skill. Similar types of students should show similar patterns of growth. Those…

It is common practice to log-transform response times before analyzing them with standard factor analytical methods. However, sometimes the log-transformation is not capable of linearizing the relation between the response times and the latent traits. Therefore, a more general approach to response time analysis is proposed in the current…

This review paper constitutes the first step within a larger research effort to develop an interactive pragmatics learning tool for second and foreign language (L2) learners and users of English. The tool will primarily endeavor to support pragmatics learning within the language use domain "workplace." Given this superordinate objective,…

The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize the need to promote equitable opportunities for all students to engage in science and engineering. This article offers eight tips that educators can use to support students of all abilities, including those with special learning needs, to engage in engineering challenges at the elementary level.

Rhode Island is committed to ensuring that all educators receive fair, accurate, and meaningful educator evaluations that provide information that can help all teachers improve and refine their practice. This commitment is an outgrowth of the state's recognition of the influence teachers have on student growth and achievement. Currently, districts…

Learning analytics and digital badges are emerging research fields in educational science. They both show promise for enhancing student retention in higher education, where withdrawals prior to degree completion remain at about 30% in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. This integrative review provides an…

This study examines student growth on mathematics and reading assessments across academic years (Spring 2006 through Spring 2009) using three different growth models: hierarchical linear model (HLM), value-added model (VAM), and student growth percentile model (SGP). Comparisons across these three growth models were conducted to investigate the…

Peer-play experiences are a vital part of children's socialization, development, and culture. Children with autism face distinct challenges in social and imaginary play, which place them at high risk for being excluded by peers. Without explicit support, they are likely to remain isolated from peers and the consistent interactive play that…

Intra-individual variability over a short period of time may contain important information about how individuals differ from each other. In this article we begin by discussing diverse indicators for quantifying intra-individual variability and indicate their advantages and disadvantages. Then we propose an alternative method that models…

There is a lack of research on the effects of outliers on the decisions about the number of factors to retain in an exploratory factor analysis, especially for outliers arising from unintended and unknowingly included subpopulations. The purpose of the present research was to investigate how outliers from an unintended and unknowingly included…

Statistical analyses investigating latent structure can be divided into those that estimate structural model parameters and those that detect the structural model type. The most basic distinction among structure types is between categorical (discrete) and dimensional (continuous) models. It is a common, and potentially misleading, practice to…

Large-scale social surveys of visually impaired people often explore participants' mobility and travel behaviour. What is methodologically more challenging is gathering participant-centred data in relation to their own interpretation of the barriers they face. Findings from a national survey of visually impaired people are presented in this…