Non-certified personnel in K-12 education in Pennsylvania represent approximately one-third of all public education employees. Although there has been large-scale reform in the evaluation of certified staff, the non-certified population may not be evaluated at all. The lack of consistency in evaluating this large segment of K-12 education…

In this study, the cut-off scores obtained from the Angoff, Angoff Y/N, Nedelsky and Ebel standard methods were compared with the 50 T score and the current cut-off score in various aspects. Data were collected from 448 students who took Module B1+ English Exit Exam IV and 14 experts. It was seen that while the Nedelsky method gave the lowest…

This article uses discourse analysis techniques associated with Foucauldian archaeology to examine the two international charters developed by the International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education (IGU-CGE), the original one in 1992 and the revised version endorsed in 2016 at the Beijing conference. The examination considers…

Placing non-native speakers of English into appropriate classes involves mapping placement test scores onto proficiency levels based on predetermined cut scores. However, studies on how to set boundaries for different levels of proficiency have been lacking in the language testing literature. A top-down approach to standard setting in which a…

The past decade has seen an emerging interest in mapping (aligning or linking) test scores to language proficiency levels of external performance scales or frameworks, such as the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), as well as locally developed frameworks, such as China's Standards of English Language Ability (CSE). Such alignment is…

This study examined the digital and social media communication practices of nine urban universities including UMSL and compared those to known corporate best practices. The purpose of this study was to (1) research how these universities are using social/digital communications to engage with students and prospective students; (2) compare the…

A short 27 months ago, two groups of U.S. states were each awarded more than $175 million to design, develop, and pilot test a new generation of assessments (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). These new tests will replace assessments in English language arts and mathematics that are currently in use within state and federal accountability…

In 2011, the College Board released its SAT college and career readiness benchmark, which represents the level of academic preparedness associated with a high likelihood of college success and completion. The goal of this study, which was conducted in 2008, was to establish college success criteria to inform the development of the benchmark. The…

Inconsistency in the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) has led to dissatisfaction amongst students and is an issue across the Higher Education sector. This paper outlines research undertaken in one faculty within one university to ascertain staff and student views on minimum standards within the VLE; how the VLE could reduce student…

Recently, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program used for North Carolina's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's Rausch Interval Unit (RIT) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish…

This study makes a contribution to the development of empirically based, domain-specific teaching standards that are acknowledged by the professional community of teachers and which, therefore, have a good chance of being successfully implemented and used for professional development purposes. It was prompted by the resistance on the part of many…

When Item Response Theory (IRT) is operationally applied for large scale assessments, unidimensionality is typically assumed. This assumption requires that the test measures a single latent trait. Furthermore, when tests are vertically scaled using IRT, the assumption of unidimensionality would require that the battery of tests across grades…

Achieve, through support from the Noyce Foundation, examined ten sets of international standards with the intent of informing the development of both the conceptual framework and Next Generation Science Standards. Achieve selected countries based on their strong performance on international assessments and/or their economic, political, or cultural…

The authors performed a content analysis of intellectual contribution portfolios of accounting faculty at various business schools that Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International recently accredited. The results showed a significant divergence in faculty research (e.g., areas, topics) and their teaching assignments. This…

"Classification" and "ranking" are tools for comparing colleges and universities, albeit for different purposes. Although "classification" focuses on identifying similarities rather than ordering institutions, it is closely intertwined with "ranking", whether directly through its content, structure, and…