Individual-level score reports represent a common artifact in teacher-parent communication about standardized tests. Previous research has documented challenges in communicating student achievement. Researchers have also leveraged teachers in the process of score report design. Little is known, however, about teachers' experiences with using score…

This study evaluated test-equating methods to enable comparisons and conversions between the vertical jump (VJ) and standing long jump (SLJ) tests. A total of 528 youth (280 males) performed VJ and SLJ, and their scores were randomly split as the calibration (C) sample (n = 478) and cross-validation (CV) sample (n = 50). SLJ scores of the C sample…

Prior to the 1990s, the term "arts integration" rarely--if ever--appeared in educational literature. The term may be new, but educators have been involving students in arts learning processes for centuries. In particular, teachers have long harnessed the power of drama to engage students in arts-integrated learning activities. Articles…

A recent national survey of middle grades education examined the perceptions of middle grades educators about middle grades organizational structures and instructional practices. Although the results suggested declining implementation of middle grades practices, it also highlighted educators still valued middle school philosophy and indicated a…

This study examines the effectiveness of Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI) Teacher and Student Lessons in whole-classroom settings for grades K-5. Conducted in a Michigan school district during the 2023-2024 school year, this mixed-methods research evaluated implementation and outcomes across 815 students from 35 classrooms. MAP Growth…

State leaders have long recognized the value of statewide tests. Many had well-developed testing systems long before the No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2002, required annual assessments in grades 3-8. Another sign of that recognition is the recent plethora of new state testing requirements for K-3 students. But would states continue to test…

Current taxonomies of intelligence comprise two factors of mental speed, clerical speed (Gs), and elementary cognitive speed (Gt). Both originated from different research traditions and are conceptualized as dissociable constructs in current taxonomies. However, previous research suggests that tasks of one category can be transferred into the…

The generation effect is moderated by experimental design, as are a number of other encoding variables, such that the generation effect recall is typically larger in mixed-list than pure-list designs. In typical experiments on design effects, each study list is followed by its own recall test. Rowland, Littrell-Baez, Sensenig, and DeLosh (2014)…

Differential Item Functioning (DIF) detection procedures provide validity evidence for proposed interpretations of test scores that can help researchers and practitioners ensure that test scores are free from potential bias, and that individual items do not create an advantage for any subgroup of examinees over another. In this study, we use the…

Reliability is the consistency of a set of scores that are designed to measure the same thing. Reliability is a statistical property of scores that must be demonstrated rather than assumed.

In Winter 2021-2022, the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) assessments are administered in ELA and mathematics in Grades 3-8. In Spring 2021-2022, the NSCAS assessments are administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics in Grades 3-8 and in science in Grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to…

Test-optional admissions policies have been steadily, though slowly, expanding throughout higher education institutions for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, sparked a rapid expansion of institutions adopting test-optional policy. Using a diffusion of innovations framework, this study assesses the institutional characteristics that shaped…

Testing practices and the construct of English both serve separately and interactionally to promote activities of modernity and coloniality. Tests categorize and rank learning and knowledge in discrete, static ways. The construct of the English language through standardization and other processes upholds linguistic purism ideologies. Such concerns…

The principle of fairness in testing traditionally involves an assertion about the absence of bias, or that measurement should be impartial (i.e., not provide an unfair advantage or disadvantage), across groups of test takers. In more general-purposes language testing, a test taker's background knowledge is not typically considered relevant to the…

I describe the motivation, structure, implementation, and student feedback of my mastery-based testing (MBT) system with a significant final exam component in Calculus I and II since 2016. Grades for each written assignment, quiz, and exam question were assigned on a Mastery/Progressing/Needs Improvement (M/P/NI) scale. Homework and quizzes could…