Several government agencies are seeking quality improvement in environmental policy documents by asking for the implementation of Plain Language (PL) guidelines. Our mixed-methods research examines whether the application of certain PL guidelines affects the comprehension and perceptions of readers of environmental policy documents. Results show…

This study investigated how students collaborate in a CSCL environment and how this collaboration affects group performance. To answer these questions, the collaborative process of 101 groups of secondary education students when working on a historical inquiry task was analyzed. Our analyses show that group members devote most of their efforts to…

Prior work shows that children can make inductive inferences about objects based on their labels rather than their appearance (Gelman, 2003). A separate line of research shows that children's trust in a speaker's label is selective. Children accept labels from a reliable speaker over an unreliable speaker (e.g., Koenig & Harris, 2005). In the…

Language-reduced (nonverbal) ability tests are the primary talent identification tools for ELL children. The appropriate use of such tests with low-SES and minority children is more nuanced. Whenever language-reduced tests are used for talent identification, nonverbal tests that measure more than figural reasoning abilities should be employed. For…

This study examined the appropriateness of the anchor composition in a mixed-format test, which includes both multiple-choice (MC) and constructed-response (CR) items, using subpopulation invariance indices. Linking functions were derived in the nonequivalent groups with anchor test (NEAT) design using two types of anchor sets: (a) MC only and (b)…

The article describes a successful intervention program in developing inferential comprehension in a sixth grader. Steve (pseudonym) was proficient in word reading, was able to detect explicit information while reading, but struggled with linking textual information to yield integral ideas. After 10 weeks of working with Steve on word analogies,…

The commentary discusses phenomena highlighted in the studies of the special issue such as the hypercorrection effect, overconfidence, and the efficiency of interventions designed to increase monitoring accuracy. The discussion is based on a broader theoretical framework of self-regulation of learning that stresses the inferential character of…

The use of confidence intervals (CIs) as an addition or as an alternative to null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) has been promoted as a means to make researchers more aware of the uncertainty that is inherent in statistical inference. Little is known, however, about whether presenting results via CIs affects how readers judge the…

Children often associate the study of bones with dinosaurs or crime scenes. This unit introduces students to "zooarchaeology," the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Students in grades 3-5 engage in hands-on activities examining bones, shells, and other "hard parts" of animals. They use their observations as a starting point for…

A. Redish et al. (2007) proposed a reinforcement learning model of context-dependent learning and extinction in conditioning experiments, using the idea of "state classification" to categorize new observations into states. In the current article, the authors propose an interpretation of this idea in terms of normative statistical inference. They…

A meta-analysis of the reliability of the scores from a specific test, also called reliability generalization, allows the quantitative synthesis of its properties from a set of studies. It is usually assumed that part of the variation in the reliability coefficients is due to some unknown and implicit mechanism that restricts and biases the…

In "Updating the Duplex Design for Test-Based Accountability in the Twenty-First Century," Bejar and Graf (2010) propose extensions to the duplex design for large-scale assessment presented in Bock and Mislevy (1988). Examining the range of people who use assessment results--from students, teachers, administrators, curriculum designers,…

On being told "John or Mary will come", one might infer that "not both" of them will come. Yet the semantics of "or" is compatible with a situation where both John and Mary come. Inferences of this type, which enrich the semantics of "or" from an "inclusive" to an "exclusive" interpretation, have been extensively studied in linguistic pragmatics.…

The increase in the squared multiple correlation coefficient ([delta]R[superscript 2]) associated with a variable in a regression equation is a commonly used measure of importance in regression analysis. Algina, Keselman, and Penfield found that intervals based on asymptotic principles were typically very inaccurate, even though the sample size…

Previous studies examining expertise have used a wide range of methods. Beyond characterizing expert and novice behavior in different contexts and circumstances, many studies have examined the processes that comprise the behavior itself and, more recently, processes that comprise training and practice that develop expertise. Other studies, dating…