English language learners (ELLs) and their teachers, schools, and communities face increasingly high-stakes consequences due to test score gaps between ELLs and non-ELLs. It is essential that the field of educational assessment continue to investigate the meaning of these test score gaps. This article discusses the findings of an exploratory study…

The ability to build arguments is a crucial skill and a central educational goal in all school subjects including science as it enables students to formulate reasoned opinions and thus to cope with the increasing complexity of knowledge. In the present cross-sectional study, we examined the domain-specificity of argumentative writing in science by…

This memorandum presents results from the Center on Standards and Assessments Implementation's (CSAI's) most recent scan of state assessment systems, with attention to changes from the previous school year to the 2014-2015 school year. CSAI derived the information reported in this memorandum from websites maintained by state, district, and…

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: tryptophan, transcription unit, operon, "trp" repressor, corepressor, operator, promoter, palindrome, initiation, elongation, and termination of transcription, open reading frame, coupled transcription/translation, chromosome-polysome complex. (Contains 2 figures and 1 footnote.)

We have given a group of 56 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) seniors who took mechanics as freshmen a written test similar to the final exam they took in their freshman course as well as the Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT) and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). Students in majors unrelated to physics scored 60%…

The purpose of this quantitative multiple regression study was to determine whether a relationship existed between Maryland State Assessment (MSA) reading scores, MSA math scores, gender, ethnicity, age, and MSA science scores. Also examined was if MSA reading scores, MSA math scores, gender, ethnicity, and age can be used in combination or alone…

This study examined the evolution of student responses to seven contextually different versions of two Force Concept Inventory questions in an introductory physics course at the University of Arkansas. The consistency in answering the closely related questions evolved little over the seven-question exam. A model for the state of student knowledge…

General chemistry tests from the Examinations Institute of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society have been analyzed to identify factors that may influence how individual test items perform. In this paper, issues of item order (position within a set of items that comprise a test) and answer order (position of correct…

This study explored the predictive effects of science self-beliefs on science achievement for 24,680 13-year-old students from Gulf Cooperation Council member countries--Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates--who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. The…

Aspects of assessment in physics are considered with the aim of designing assessments that will encourage a deep approach to student learning and will ultimately lead to higher levels of achievement. A range of physics questions are considered and categorized by the level of knowledge and understanding which is require for a successful answer.…

Background: When studying student performance across different countries or cultures, an important aspect for comparisons is that of score comparability. In other words, it is imperative that the latent variable (i.e., construct of interest) is understood and measured equivalently across all participating groups or countries, if our inferences…

As part of an institutional program sponsored by the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia, we developed an educational research study on two sessions of human anatomy in which we combined team-based learning (TBL) and the use of iPads. Study data included the TBL, assessments applied during the…

This study examined the effect of the translation of traditional scientific vocabulary into plain English on student achievement in college science instruction. The study took place in the context of an introductory microbiology course. Data were collected from course sections instructed with traditional microbiology vocabulary as well as sections…

The study of human bioscience is viewed as a crucial curriculum in allied health. Nevertheless, bioscience (and particularly physiology) is notoriously difficult for undergraduates, particularly academically disadvantaged students. So endemic are the high failure rates (particularly in nursing) that it has come to be known as "the human…

It is critical for countries to ensure that capable secondary school students receive further preparation in advanced mathematics and science, so that they are ready to enter challenging university-level studies that prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This group of students will become the…