This study investigated the relationship between the scales used for the ISTEP+ assessments and the RIT scales used to report performance on Northwest Evaluation Association tests. The RIT scale was developed using Rasch scaling methodologies. RIT-based tests are used to inform a variety of educational decisions at the district, school, and…

This book is a manual for the administration and interpretation of the Learning Styles Inventory, Version III (LSI-III). Part 1 is reproducible (so each teacher who administers the LSI can have a copy) and answers the following concerns: what the LSI-III is and what it measures; administering and scoring the LSI-III; interpreting students' scores…

The purpose of this paper was to construct, refine, and test a measure of adolescent peer susceptibility. Current conceptualizations of peer susceptibility largely are one dimensional and include at most one or two domains of psychosocial functioning. In addition, most assessments of peer susceptibility are situation- or behavior-specific, thus…

The most accurate method for tracking high school graduation rates is to provide each student with a single lifetime school identification number that would follow him or her throughout his or her entire school career. Texas has this system in place, but this report demonstrates that the official rates Texas has historically reported dramatically…

This report examines the feasibility of implementing a student unit record system to replace the student-related components that currently are based on aggregate institution-level data collected as part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The feasibility study was initiated by the National Center for Education Statistics…

This book presents a nontechnical, step-by-step process that shows how to evaluate any 360-degree-feedback instrument intended for management or leadership development. The 360-degree-feedback instruments collect information from different sources about a target manager's performance, and they offer multiple perspectives. The 16 steps in…

Chinese University of Hong Kong students (n=844) each rated a "good" teacher and a "poor" teacher using a Chinese translation of the Students' Evaluations of Educational Quality (SEEQ) instrument. Good teachers were rated more favorably than poor teachers on all SEEQ scales, all SEEQ items were judged to be most important by at…

The first of the National Education Goals states that by the year 2000 all children in America will start school ready to learn. Pressed by demands for greater accountability and enhanced educational performance, states are developing standards and creating new criteria and approaches for assessing achievement. Calls to assess young children are…

The purpose of this study was to investigate certain aspects of the internal structure of the DISCOVER assessment checklist (C. Maker, A. Nielson, and J. Rogers, 1994) to assess its construct validity. Other purposes included assessing percentages of identified students and gender differences through the use of the assessment. The sample consisted…

This paper offers a method for evaluating protective factors in young children at risk for emotional and/or behavioral disorders. It reviews the development, standardization, validation, and use of a new, nationally standardized measure of within child protective factors, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA). The DECA evaluates the…

This manual documents the technical aspects of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). In May 1999, Massachusetts public school students in grades 4, 8, and 10 participated in the second annual administration of the MCAS tests in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science & Technology. This report provides information…

The need for empirical validation of a specific set of second language proficiency descriptors for the four skill areas- -reading, writing, listening, and speaking--provided the impetus for the work described in this report. The University of California at Los Angeles Center for the Study of Evaluation developed a validation plan and undertook…

This report presents findings of a review of the current research on the effectiveness of distance education in higher education. Major findings indicate, first, there is a paucity of truly original research dedicated to explaining or predicting phenomena related to distance learning; and, second, although most studies indicate that distance…

The purposes of this study were to describe the validation of a new instrument, the Teacher Communication Behaviour Questionnaire (TCBQ) and to show its use in assessing students' perceptions of their interactions with their teachers by focusing on their teachers' communicating behaviors. Participants were 1,202 students in grades 7 through 9 from…

The relationship among Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) results, high school grade point average (GPA), socioeconomic variables, and placement test scores was examined. Participants were 162 freshmen studies students from an urban university. Results of zero-order correlations indicated that the construct validity of the placement skills test used…