Due to diversity of students and their attendance patterns, community colleges face unique challenges in assessing and monitoring student commitment and persistence. This study presents the psychometric properties on a 13-item educational commitment scale measuring a three dimensional construct representing affective, normative and continuance…

A mixed method approach to educational and social inquiry is presented as an important counterpoint to the contemporary debate about what constitutes valid, rigorous, and "scientific" research. By welcoming all legitimate methodological traditions, mixed method inquiry meaningfully engages with difference and thus offers some generative potential…

The Nation's Report Card[TM] informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States and its jurisdictions, including Puerto Rico. In 2003, a trial NAEP mathematics assessment was administered in Spanish to public school students at grades 4 and 8 in Puerto Rico. Based on preliminary analyses of…

This paper presents the assessment and item specifications for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 mathematics assessment. "Chapter Two" contains descriptions of the five major content areas of mathematics (Number Properties and Operations, Measurement, Geometry, Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability, and…

Given the national agenda on chronic disease self-management, the goal of the project described in this brief report was to develop a scale that measured adult perceptions about health but did not focus on a specific condition. The Perception of Health Scale (PHS) is based on earlier work that used the Health Belief Model as a focus. The 15-item…

One way to assess the quality of education in post-secondary institutions is through the use of performance indicators. Studies that have compared currently popular process indicators (e.g., library size, percentage of faculty with PhD) found that after controlling for incoming student ability, these process indicators tend to be weakly associated…

It is evident from previous research that user satisfaction is a multidimensional, subjective variable which can be affected by many factors other than performance of the system or searcher. This article draws on information retrieval and information systems literature in an attempt to understand what user satisfaction is, how it is measured, what…

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been implemented in more than 4,000 schools as a means of addressing problem behavior in a systemic fashion. Preliminary outcomes (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) indicate the effectiveness of SWPBS in decreasing school-wide behavior problems and creating a positive school climate.…

This study examined comparability of student scores obtained from computerized and paper-and-pencil formats of the large-scale statewide end-of-course (EOC) examinations in the two subject areas of Algebra and Biology. Evidence in support of comparability of computerized and paper-based tests was sought by examining scale scores, item parameter…

The written certification exam that accompanies the Gearing Up for Safety-Agricultural Production Safety Training for Youth curriculum was designed to partially meet the testing requirements of the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Order (AgHOs) Certification Training Program. This curriculum and accompanying assessment tools are available for…

When accurately assigned and administered appropriately, testing accommodations help ameliorate the effects of personal characteristics that limit access to critical information and prevent a person from demonstrating his or her true abilities in the tested domain. Inaccurate assignment or misuse of accommodations may counteract the benefits of…

This theoretical paper examines current practice in work-based studies where recognition of prior unaccredited work is normally limited to around 50% of the total programme. The basis of this limiting concept is challenged and consideration is given to a number of factors that have contributed to it. Comparison is made with the current practice of…

This article discusses the use of propensity scoring in experimental program evaluations to estimate impacts for subgroups defined by program features and participants' program experiences. The authors discuss estimation issues and provide specification tests. They also discuss the use of an overlooked data collection design--obtaining predictions…

The literature on competency-based human resource (HR) management provides a strong case for moving from a jobs-based to a competency-based approach to human resources. There is agreement in the literature (Dubois, Rothwell, Stern, & Kemp, 2004; Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999) on the benefits of using competencies throughout HR systems and impact…

Education statistics are rarely neutral; those who collect and analyze them have different purposes. In this article, Bracey discusses several principles of data interpretation to help educators avoid falling into statistical traps. For example, because such reports as A Nation At Risk contain many "selected, spun, distorted, and even manufactured…