The National Science Education Standards recognize that inquiry-based instruction holds significant promise for developing scientifically literate students. The Science Teacher Inquiry Rubric (STIR) was developed based upon the National Science Education Standards' essential features of inquiry instruction (NRC, 2000). A pilot study using a…

Presents the collective judgments of a group of academics from North America, Southeast Asia and the Arabian Gulf region, as well as leading practitioners from the Arabian Gulf region, about the content of graduate degrees in information studies. The participants generally agreed about the content of the curriculum of information studies. The most…

For more than a decade the health education profession has used the seven responsibilities, outlined from the 1978-1988 Role Delineation Project, as the foundation for credentialing, curricular structure in professional preparation programs, and continuing education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the seven…

The aim of this study was to determine: (a) whether children with visual and additional impairments show any non-verbal behaviors, and if so what were the common behaviors; (b) whether two rehabilitation professionals interpreted the non-verbal behaviors similarly; and (c) whether a speech pathologist and a rehabilitation professional interpreted…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the utility of clinical swallowing examination (CSE) measures for detecting aspiration as defined by videofluoroscopic swallowing examination (VFSE). This study, involving 165 participants, is a follow-up to a previously published investigation of 60 participants. Findings are compared with that…

Educational software makers are often rebuffed by educational authorities, whose endorsements could lead to governmental stamps of approval, and thus explosive sales. But they usually get warmer receptions in the offices of the nation's school superintendents, who are, after all, their primary customers. The system was not supposed to work this…

This study presents psychometric characteristics of the mathematics problem solving performance assessment used in the Minneapolis Public Schools, focusing on the interrater reliability, scoring reliability, and validity of the assessment. The Minneapolis Math Problem Solving Assessment (MPSA) was established in 1991. Students are asked to solve…

During a period when the reform-minded are very critical of the degree to which testing is actually related to the conditions for which data are employed, authentic assessment offers the opportunity to evaluate learning in settings closely related to the real world. It also allows the evaluator to tailor assessment conditions for individual…

To determine trends in reporting test reliability, 88 articles addressing 188 instruments in 1980, 81 articles covering 205 instruments in 1985, and 67 articles assessing 195 instruments in 1990 in the "Journal of Counseling Psychology" were reviewed. Articles were examined for the way in which reliability was discussed and reported, and…

A method is presented for collecting information about the match between students' learning issues in problem-based learning and teachers' objectives. Subjects were 82 second-year medical students at the University of Limburg in Maastricht (Netherlands) in a problem-based curriculum. During a unit on pregnancy, childbirth, and child development,…

A preliminary study is reported of the use of new multifaceted Rasch measurement mechanisms for investigating rater characteristics in language testing. Ratings from four judges of scripts from 50 candidates taking the International English Language Testing System test, a test of English for Academic Purposes, are analyzed. The analysis…

At Golden College (California), student writing samples are holistically scored by pairs of judges on a six-point scale. Judges are allowed to use plus and minus figures, thus converting the integer scale to a decimal scale of evaluation. In 1991, 499 writing samples written as part of the placement testing process for students in the Coast…

Understanding the behavior of those evaluating a speech is important for a complete understanding of the public communication process. Ratings of public speaking were submitted to a Rasch analysis to determine whether objective measurement can create and maintain a standard of speech evaluation. Data used were 1,022 ratings of 168 speeches given…

A preliminary study examined the interrater reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity of the Haak Sentence Completion (in which the respondent is given a sentence stem and asked to provide the remainder of the sentence) using a three-point scoring system. The subjects were 100 boys ranging in age from 6 to 11 years who were randomly…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of experimental research in counseling and counselor education published from 1976 through 1984. The focus of the study was the methodology and reporting of the research rather than its relevance. Time was the independent variable of interest and three 3-year spans were chosen for examination:…