Education Commons^™

A Three-Way Classification Of Sources Of Item Difficulty In Tests And Examinations, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

What do test takers mean when they say ‘this item is difficult’? What do test analysts mean when they say ‘this item is difficult’? The answer to the first question comes out of experience. The answer to the second question comes out of empirics. The notion of difficulty covers a considerable diversity of sources, materials and methods. Test analysts seem obliged to collapse all senses of difficulty under one heading and so it might be useful to attempt a classification or typo logy of some of the possible sources of difficulty in test items. This presentation describes such a system …

Evaluation Of The Master Of Teaching At Mgse, Catherine Scott, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Paul Weldon, Kate Reid, Stephen Dinham

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

No abstract provided.

The Massillon Artful Living Project: Some Positive Results Are Evident, Oscar T. Mcknight, John Sikula, Gary Zoldesy

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

The Massillon Artful Living Project (ALP) was created to immerse developing minds in the fine arts and to enhance the creativity, social skills, and academic achievement of preschool children. The data analyses to date support program expansion. Also, feedback by teachers, parents, administrators and community arts providers are positive.

Assessment: Lessons From Learning Research?, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Keynote Address 1 - (includes video).

What Information From Pisa Is Useful For Teachers? How Can Pisa Help Our Students To Become More Proficient?, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Searle, Tom Lumley

Dr Tom Lumley

A frequent objection to large-scale testing programs, both national and international, is that they are used as an instrument of control, rather than as a means of providing information to effect change. Moreover, concerns about large-scale testing often take the form of objection to the specific characteristics of the assessments as being prescriptive and proscriptive, leading to a narrowing of the curriculum and the spectre of 'teaching to the test' to the exclusion of more important educational content. Taking PISA reading literacy as its focus, this paper proposes, on the contrary, that a coherent assessment system is valuable in so …

Realising And Releasing Potential: Externally Moderated School-Based Assessment 40 Years On, Claire Wyatt-Smith, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

No abstract provided.

Suffering In Silence: Girls With Asperger Syndrome, Lee Wilkinson

Lee A Wilkinson, PhD

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Assessment Principles And Practice, Sacha Develle

Dr Sacha DeVelle

No abstract provided.

Abbott: Istep+ Scores — It Depends On How You Look At Them, Jeff Abbott

Jeff Abbott

This paper uses control charts and trend lines to suggest that Indiana teachers may be doing a better job educating Indiana students than policy makers think.

Towards A Moving School, John Fleming, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Explores how schools become 'moving' schools, with teachers who have high levels of professional accountability, taking personal and collective responsibility for improving students' learning and their own teaching methods.

Assessing Treatment Integrity In Behavioral Consultation, Lee Wilkinson

Lee A Wilkinson, PhD

The trend in school psychology services is a shift from an emphasis on an assessment-based paradigm to one of consultation problem-solving and behavioral intervention. A critical component of consultation-derived interventions and behavior change is treatment integrity. Treatment integrity (or fidelity) refers to the extent to which an intervention is implemented as intended (or planned). Although its importance has been acknowledged in the literature, this construct has largely been neglected in consultation research and practice. This article describes practical approaches for assessing and monitoring the integrity of treatments implemented during the problem-solving process. A treatment-monitoring interview (TMI) is proposed as an …

Ameliorating Culturally Based Extreme Response Tendencies To Attitude Items, Maurice Walker

Maurice Walker

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Equating Methodology On Reported Trends In Pisa, Eveline Gebhardt, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

In 2005 PISA published trend indicators that compared the results of PISA 2000 and PISA 2003. This paper explores the extent to which the outcomes of these trend analyses are sensitive to the choice of test equating methodologies, the choice of regression models and the choice of linking items. To establish trends, PISA equated its 2000 and 2003 tests using a methodology based on Rasch Modelling that involved estimating linear transformations that mapped 2003 Rasch-scaled scores to the previously established PISA 2000 Rasch-scaled scores. This paper compares the outcomes of this approach with an alternative, which involves the joint Rasch …

The Transformation To A Learner-Centered Community As A Result Of University-Wide Assessment, Michele Kieke, Karen Moroz, Amy Gort

Karen Moroz

The Impact Of Differential Investment Of Student Effort On The Outcomes Of International Studies, J Butler, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

International comparative assessments of student achievement, such as Trends in Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) are becoming increasingly important in the development of evidence-based education policy. The potentially far-reaching influence of such studies underscores the need for these assessments to be valid and reliable. In education, increasing recognition is being given to motivational factors which impact on student learning. This research considers a possible threat to the validity of such studies by investigating the influence the amount of effort invested by test-takers has on their outcomes. Reassuringly, it is found that the reported expenditure …

Modelling Mathematics Problem Solving Item Responses Using A Multidimensional Irt Model, Margaret Wu, Ray Adams

Prof Ray Adams

This research examined students' responses to mathematics problem- solving tasks and applied a general multidimensional IRT model at the response category level. In doing so, cognitive processes were identified and modelled through item response modelling to extract more information than would be provided using conventional practices in scoring items. More specifically, the study consisted of two parts. The first part involved the development of a mathematics problem-solving framework that was theoretically grounded, drawing upon research in mathematics education and cognitive psychology. The framework was then used as the basis for item development. The second part of the research involved the …

Curriculum For The Future, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

No abstract provided.

Application Of Multivariate Rasch Models In International Large-Scale Educational Assessments, Ray Adams, Margaret Wu, C Carstensen

Prof Ray Adams

In large-scale educational assessments, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a primary concern is with the estimation of the population-level characteristics of a number of latent variables and the relationships between latent variables and other variables. Typically these studies are undertaken in contexts in which there are constraints on sample size and individual student response time, yet there are high expectations with regard to the breadth of content coverage. These demands and constraints have resulted in such studies using rotated-booklet designs, with each student responding to a …

High-Stakes Testing: Can Rapid Assessment Reduce The Pressure?, Stuart S. Yeh

Stuart S Yeh

This article presents findings about the implementation of a system for rapidly assessing student progress in math and reading in grades K–12—a system that potentially could reduce pressure on teachers resulting from high-stakes testing and the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. Interviews with 49 teachers and administrators in one Texas school district suggest that the assessments allowed teachers to individualize and target instruction; provide more tutoring; reduce drill and practice; and improve student readiness for, and spend more time on, critical thinking activities, resulting in a more balanced curriculum. Teachers reported that the assessments provided a common …

Repurposing Learning Objects As Assessment Instruments, S Atkins, Gayl O'Connor

Gayl O'Connor

No abstract provided.

Using Assessment For Learning (Formative Assessment) In Science And Resources For Learning – Mining Sear (Science Education Assessment Resource), Gayl O'Connor

Gayl O'Connor

No abstract provided.

Designing Assessment Tasks For Deep Thinking, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

I want to present some ideas about how a valid and reliable process for assessing deep thinking is not a function of the assessment regime (such as external or internal, standardised or teacher-devised), but is actually a product of the successful application of certain design criteria and the interplay of three essential elements. The argument I present rests on one simple belief that I hold: the capacity to design good assessment tasks is a vital part of an extensive professional repertoire and, as such, demands space and time, ritual and respect. (Teacher–assessors should not let anybody tell them that designing …

Assessing Assessment: What Is Being Assessed? So What? And Then What?, K Rowe, Andrew Stephanou

Dr Andrew Stephanou

No abstract provided.

Sear – Your Answer To Assessment In Science, Gayl O'Connor, Helen Trotter

Gayl O'Connor

No abstract provided.

Two Out Of Five Is Bad [Features Of An Effective Assessment System], Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

No abstract provided.

Rich Task Assessment In New Basics, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

No abstract provided.

Improving Assessment Practice, Gayl O'Connor, Mark Hackling

Gayl O'Connor

No abstract provided.

Numeracy Up Front : Behind The International Life Skills Survey, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

This paper presents some of the results of the Numeracy Working Group in the International Life Skills Survey (ILSS) and the what the author suggests is a wealth of ideas and concepts that can be of interest to the wider educational sector. The author looks at why numeracy was included in the ILSS and the numeracy framework that was established. Complexity factors, assessment items, results so far and issues, problems and benefits showing up in the survey are discussed.

Developing A Rich Assessment Task, Gayl O'Connor

Gayl O'Connor

No abstract provided.

Performance Feedback To Schools Of Students’ Year 12 Assessments : The Vce Data Project, Ross Turner, Ken Rowe, K Lane

Ross Turner