In educational research, characteristics of the learning environment are generally assessed by asking students to evaluate features of their lessons. The student ratings produced by this simple and efficient research strategy can be analysed from two different perspectives. At the "individual level", they represent the individual student's…

This methodological investigation examines the accuracy of narrative-based scaled ratings covering several post high school years. Guided narratives by young adults described developmentally relevant behaviour and context for each month between ages 17 and the mid-20s. "Prospective" narratives covered shorter time periods in three interviews…

The purpose of this descriptive study was to generate information about imminent concerns of adult children that could serve as initial context for development of a meaningful framework for coping with an ongoing parent care situation. Ninety-two adult children pre-selected for self-reports of crisis were interviewed about their concerns and goals…

Practicing clinicians frequently offer judgments about aspects of swallowing physiology rather than performing actual measurements. Little is known about the accuracy of those judgments. The purpose of this preliminary study was to explore agreement of clinicians' judgments of pharyngeal swallow response time (PSRT) with temporal measurements of…

The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between health survey and medical chart based information. The study population consisted of adult patients (17 years of age and older) attending the Bella Coola Medical Clinic who also completed a detailed Health and Quality of Life Survey. A total of 674 adults completed the Health…

This article investigates a group oral test as administered at a university in Japan to find if it is appropriate to use scores for higher stakes decision making. It is one component of an in-house English proficiency test used for placing students, evaluating their progress, and making informed decisions for the development of the English…

It was hypothesized that, when compared to the Angoff method (W. H. Angoff, 1971), the Nedelsky method (L. Nedelsky, 1954) for standard setting had lower intrajudge inconsistency, lower cutscores, and lower cutscores especially for items presenting challenges to the judges. These hypotheses were tested and supported in a sample of 22 graduate…

Since 1988, Vermont has been developing an innovative performance assessment program that relies substantially on portfolios of student work. This interim report presents findings about the reliability of scores from the first statewide implementation of the portfolio program in the 1991-92 school year. The focus is not on program impact as an…

The validation of key contextual features of algebra word problems was studied in two phases. In the first phase, five experts were asked to assess the appropriateness of the concepts in the problems and the adequacy of the assignment of the contextual features to the problems. In the second phase, construct validity was established by having 6…

In an effort to improve the management of the Georgia Department of Education innovation program, a concept paper process for selecting developmental projects was implemented in January of 1989. The first effort, in January of 1989, yielded 48 papers; the second effort, in November of 1990, yielded 56 papers. For the Novemeber effort, funding was…

Results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) battery trials in Australia are reported. The IELTS tests of productive language skills use direct assessment strategies and subjective scoring according to detailed guidelines. The receptive skills tests use indirect assessment strategies and clerical scoring procedures.…

Direct assessment of writing skill, usually considered to be synonymous with assessment by means of writing samples, is reviewed in terms of its history and with respect to evidence of its reliability and validity. Reliability is examined as it is influenced by reader inconsistency, domain sampling, and other sources of error. Validity evidence is…

The degrees of variance among three groups of evaluators relative to their assessments of the teaching competencies of preservice teacher education students were studied. Subjects included groups of 23 and 32 undergraduates who were certified to teach by the teacher preparation program at Washburn University in Topeka (Kansas) in 1987 and in 1988,…

This study involved the selection and adaptation of a writing assessment procedure for teachers and researchers in the Duval County Public Schools (Florida) to use in assessing changes in writing ability among elementary grade students. Through a review of the literature, four writing assessment procedures (analytic, holistic, focused holistic,…

The Air Force Occupational Measurement Center conducts task-based occupational surveys of Air Force specialties that include supervisor ratings on recommended training emphasis for entry-level airmen. Priorities are input to the Instructional System Development training model, which guides the development and revision of specialty training…