The authors discuss the applicability of nonparametric item response theory (IRT) models to the construction and psychometric analysis of personality and psychopathology scales, and they contrast these models with parametric IRT models. They describe the fit of nonparametric IRT to the Depression content scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic…

Students at the middle school level are expected to use appropriate tools and techniques, including mathematics and graphing, to analyze and interpret data and communicate experimental findings. Measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode--see sidebar for definitions) are often used as descriptive statistics when students conduct…

The author presents an instrumental case study from an ethnographic research that examined how George, a student in one diverse fifth grade classroom, participated in a series of drama engagements to respond and construct meaning from the picture book "Friends from the other side/Amigos del otro lado" by G. Anzaldua (Children's Books Press,…

The scarce attention to the assessment and evaluation in science education research has been especially harmful for teaching science-technology-society (STS) issues, due to the dialectical, tentative, value-laden, and polemic nature of most STS topics. This paper tackles the methodological difficulties of the instruments that monitor views related…

Three major investigations were conducted in an effort to determine the impact of home school regulations on educational enrollments in the United States. Home school regulations were obtained from state departments of education and investigated to determine the strength of the accountability measures. Populations representative of the school-age…

This undergraduate laboratory experiment integrates multiple techniques ("in vitro" synthesis, enzyme assays, Western blotting) to determine the production and detection sensitivity of two common reporter proteins (beta-galactosidase and luciferase) within an "Escherichia coli" S30 transcription/translation extract. Comparison of the data suggests…

Adolescent boys perceive their male peer group culture--and their socialization toward masculine norms emphasized within this culture--as negatively influencing their abilities to develop close male friendships. Boys who manage to develop close, male friendships, however, draw strength from these relationships to resist the social pressures of…

The relationship between three different service coordinator models (dedicated and independent, dedicated but not independent, and blended) and the use of nine different service coordinator practices was examined in a study of families of infants and toddlers enrolled in the IDEA Part C early intervention program. Results showed that service…

Individuals with mental retardation and their parents/guardians have long been neglected in health care research. In this study we used a qualitative methodology to describe the experiences adults with mental retardation and their parents/guardians have with the delivery of primary care services. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted…

Practitioner inquiry offers a strategy for creating systemic change thus increasing opportunities for all students' academic achievement. Too often, school counselors are considered ancillary in schools rather than an integral member of the practitioner base. However, school counselors are being included in the equation for all students' success.…

Narrative inquiry methodology was used to investigate self-perceived identities among 10 lesbian college students. Analysis of data from in-depth, open-ended interviews revealed the role of meaning-making capacity in determining the extent to which contextual influences shaped self-perceptions of sexual orientation identity and its relationship…

Suggestions that there is a growing epidemic of suicide among college students in the United States are false. The National Survey of Counseling Center Directors reports 1,404 student suicides over a 14-year period and an adjusted suicide rate of 6.5, half the rate of the general US population (12.6 for all races) during this period when matched…

The procedure to produce standard curve for starch concentration measurement by image analysis using a color scanner and computer for data acquisition and color analysis is described. Color analysis is performed by a Visual Basic program that measures red, green, and blue (RGB) color intensities for pixels within the scanner image.

The Pearson correlation is used to depict effect sizes in the context of item response theory. Amultidimensional Rasch model is used to directly estimate the correlation between latent traits. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to investigate whether the population correlation could be accurately estimated and whether the bootstrap method…

The student-assessment results that schools must report to satisfy No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements could be useful in pinpointing strengths and weaknesses in instructional programs and students' skills. However, many school staffs lack the expertise to learn from assessment results. We describe lessons learned from a yearlong workshop…