The Reduced Reparameterized Unified Model (Reduced RUM) is a diagnostic classification model for educational assessment that has received considerable attention among psychometricians. However, the computational options for researchers and practitioners who wish to use the Reduced RUM in their work, but do not feel comfortable writing their own…

Open Assessment of Learning (OAoL) is an emerging educational concept derived from the incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to education and is related with the Open Education Movement. In order to improve understanding of OAoL a literature review was conducted as a meta-synthesis of 100 studies on ICT-based assessment…

Although school climate has long been recognized as an important factor in the school improvement process, there are few psychometrically supported measures based on teacher perspectives. The current study replicated and extended the factor structure, concurrent validity, and test-retest reliability of the teacher version of the Authoritative…

In this article, I respond to the work of Gert Biesta regarding the question of what education should be for. He maintains education ought to be oriented towards the "good" rather than measurement, accountability and efficiency. While sympathetic to such claims, I nonetheless question his avowal that discussion of the purposes of…

This study highlights the efforts of Indiana University East to make substantive changes to its general education program, resulting primarily from state mandates and legislation, on an extremely aggressive timeline. While fraught with challenges, these legislative mandates also presented opportunities for the institution to make necessary and…

A first application of multilevel latent class analysis (MLCA) to educational large-scale assessment data is demonstrated. This statistical technique addresses several of the challenges that assessment data offers. Importantly, MLCA allows modeling of the often ignored teacher effects and of the joint influence of teacher and student variables.…

New Zealand, like many countries, faces the challenge of building and sustaining an educated population. Particular challenges are posed by the need to educate an increasing proportion of the population to higher levels in order to support the growth of a modern skills and knowledge economy, as opposed to an economy built on low-cost labour and…

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a method used by states and local jurisdictions to assess the level of quality of child care and early education programs, improve quality, and convey quality ratings to parents and other consumers. A typical QRIS incorporates the following components: quality standards for participating providers;…

Economists often use test scores to measure a student's performance or an adult's human capital. These scores reflect non-trivial decisions about how to measure and scale student achievement, with important implications for secondary analyses. For example, the scores computed in several major testing regimes, including the National Assessment of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative assessment of what the nation's students know and can do in subjects such as the arts, mathematics, reading, and writing. The results of NAEP are released as The Nation's Report Card. District staff play an essential role in NAEP. Superintendents and…

As education has many variables, essential arrangements are required in different areas to enhance its quality. School buildings, environmental arrangements, teaching and learning process, sources and materials, teachers, principals, health and security are the variables of which come to mind first. The concept of 'child-friendly school' ('CFS')…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Capstone Assessment as Faculty Development (Rowanna L. Carpenter, Seanna M. Kerrigan, and Vicki L. Reitenauer); (2) Using a Doctoral Program Entrance Assessment: Reflections on a Pilot Program and the Admissions Process (Robyne Elder); (3) Highlights of the 2018 HEDS…

A standards-based model of reform has dominated public education for 30 years. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it will continue to dominate education policy. Is that model working? State boards of education share an intrinsic interest in this question. While there are many ways to investigate it, one approach that shows promise treats…

The authors examined differential effects of interim assessments on minority and low socioeconomic status students' achievement in Grades K-6. They conducted a large-scale cluster randomized experiment in 2009-2010 to evaluate the impact of Indiana's policy initiative introducing interim assessments statewide. The authors used 2-level models to…

This study examines how the leaders of technology integration in educational institutions--school principals and ICT facilitators--assess systemic changes that occurred in their schools. The study collected the data from Israeli elementary schools towards the end of the third and the fourth years of the gradual National ICT program. The research…