Longitudinal, student performance-based, value-added accountability models have become popular of late and continue to enjoy increasing popularity. Such models require student data to be vertically scaled across wide grade and developmental ranges so that the value added to student growth/achievement by teachers, schools, and districts may be…

Drawing conclusions from the comparison of datasets using informal statistical inference is a challenging task since the nature and type of reasoning expected is not fully understood. In this paper a secondary teacher's reasoning from the comparison of box plot distributions during the teaching of a Year 11 (15-year-old) class is analyzed. From…

This article explores how the evidence base for aspects of early childhood has been explored using systematic research synthesis methods developed at the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre). Three early childhood systematic reviews have been carried out using EPPI-Centre procedures and tools. The…

The article focuses on the planning and implementation of interim assessment tasks in Key Stage 3 Geography. This research identifies three key dimensions which impact on the planning of assessment in the medium and long term. These are: teachers' emerging conceptualization of "formative assessment"; the statutory requirements for…

This article examines one of the challenges to the integration of classroom and large-scale portfolio assessment, a challenge posed by the use of a student's classroom portfolio for large-scale assessment of his or her individual competencies. When work is composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents, whose work is being judged? The…

An administrator's daily life is full of decisions that often involve an "on the spot" solution. This paper discusses some of the principles involved in drawing inferences in research and decision making, and describes how a knowledge of decision-making errors can help administrators. The paper also describes a case study that…

A study examined how students make specific inferences from prose passages. Subjects, 44 first- and second-year college students and 40 seventh-grade students, read 3 prose passages, each containing 6 inferential questions. The premise information for each question was expressed in one of six deductive inference forms: transitive, exclusive…

A study tested hypotheses concerning thinking in a foreign language. Specifically, it looked at whether (1) inferencing in a foreign language relies on mental models and propositional thinking; (2) the three stages of the theory of comprehension apply to understanding foreign-language discourse; and (3) propositional thinking manifests native…

The technique individuals use to narrow the possible responses in "solicits" (demands, requests, or questions requiring a response) in and outside the classroom often helps to avoid miscommunication and can be a useful tool for classroom teachers. A narrowing exercise was completed by 35 classes of native English and English as a second language…

A method for drawing inferences from complex samples is based on Rubin's approach to missing data in survey research. Standard procedures for drawing such inferences do not apply when the variables of interest are not observed directly, but must be inferred from secondary random variables which depend on the variables of interest stochastically.…

The findings from content studies of three Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Advanced Tests: Biology, Literature in English, and Political Science were reported. The studies were designed to indicate the degree to which content specified for and included in test forms for these fields is representative of the content actually taught in the…

Reviews a study of 167 British secondary school students which evaluated a course developed to improve television literacy by focusing on skills related to recall and drawing inferences from and making judgements about programs. Pretests and posttests given to groups divided by ability levels are described and results are analyzed. (Author/LRW)

Investigates the effect of vocabulary-based and generative-reciprocal inference procedure (GRIP) training on third grade readers' comprehension. Reports that the GRIP group outperformed control and basal inference groups on various inferential transfer tasks, indicating that strategies which help students attend to text clues aid in making…

Examined in 2 studies development and consequences of 6- to 10-year-olds' awareness of others' stereotypes. Findings indicated that children's ability to infer an individual's stereotype and awareness of broadly-held stereotypes increased with age. Academically stigmatized groups (African American and Latino) were more likely to be aware of…

Describes a contemporary adaptation of the "Footprint Puzzle," whigh was first developed in the 1960s for the Earth Science Curriculum Project. Students sequentially look at three frames of track drawings. For each frame, students first list observations and then make inferences about the observations. (PR)