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Positive youth development approaches with American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth have been particularly successful and promising. Utilizing a survey with 3,736 AI/AN students, we investigated the associations between risk and protective factors and significant mental distress of AI/AN youth. The protective factors were studied within the positive youth development framework, which includes positive developmental assets reflecting aspects of the Circle of Courage, a prior framework embodying core indigenous values for youth development and education to support youth at risk. Risk factors in the study included having experienced trauma, being bullied by peers, substance use, and skipping school; protective factors were social supports, out-of-school-time activity participation, healthy eating, and healthy sleeping behaviors. Through logistic regressions, we found that risk factors were associated with more mental distress, consistent with prior research. However, students who participated in out-of-school-time activities at least three times a week, were sleeping at least eight hours daily, and those reporting social supports, particularly family/community support and sense of empowerment, had lower likelihood of mental distress. In fact, the presence of these protective factors reduced the associations of risk factors and risky behaviors with mental distress.

Full-information item analysis provides item developers and reviewers comprehensive empirical evidence of item quality, including option response frequency, point-biserial index (PBI) for distracto...

Multitiered systems of support hold promise for dual language learners when culturally and linguistically responsive practices guide instruction. We modeled growth on Spanish and English early lite...

Learning objectives (LOs) are used to communicate the purpose of instruction. Done well, they convey the expectations that the instructor-and by extension, the academic field-has in terms of what students should know and be able to do after completing a course of study. As a result, they help students better understand course activities and increase student performance on assessments. LOs also serve as the foundation of course design, as they help structure classroom practices and define the focus of assessments. Understanding the research can improve and refine instructor and student use of LOs. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide published by

Researchers often use self-reported instruments to collect data from students when investigating the causes and effects of bullying. When completing the instrument, students may skip items despite ...

The evidence is mounting regarding the guidance to employ more three-option multiple-choice items. From theoretical analyses, empirical results, and practical considerations, such items are...

These guidelines for the management of congenital ichthyoses have been developed by a multidisciplinary group of European experts following a systematic review of the current literature, an expert conference held in Toulouse in 2016, and a consensus on the discussions. These guidelines summarize evidence and expert-based recommendations and intend to help clinicians with the management of these rare and often complex diseases. These guidelines comprise two sections. This is part two, covering the management of complications and the particularities of some forms of congenital ichthyosis.What's already known about this topic?Various symptomatic treatment options exist for congenital ichthyoses, but there are no European guidelines.What does this study add?These European guidelines for the management of congenital ichthyosis may help to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients.Linked Comment: Akiyama. Br J Dermatol 2019; 180:449-450. Plain language summary available online

Spanish speakers in the United States are a steadily increasing population, up by 233% since 1980. Given the growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) and the large numbers of Spanish-spe...

Making meaningful comparisons of teacher performance across countries is very challenging because countries have somewhat different educational goals and curriculum structures; the characteristics of the pupil populations across countries differ along numerous dimensions; and the type of workforce that is needed to support the economy of the country is conceived differently across countries. Because of these cross-country differences, the currently popular ways of looking at teacher effectiveness are not comparable across countries. To make meaningful comparisons of teacher effectiveness, it is necessary to have a way to anchor all of the results to a common cross-country scale of effectiveness. The FIRSTMATH study provides an approach for a fair assessment of teacher effectiveness by considering the characteristics of the pupils who are assigned to teachers. This chapter presents an approach to examine teacher effectiveness in relation to pupil performance using a generalization of IRT theory to understand the classroom contexts that teachers face as they begin to teach.

Developing assessments of knowledge for international and comparative studies is a challenging task. There are differences across countries regarding when and with what emphasis content topics are covered; even a subject matter area as well defined as mathematics shows substantial variation in timing, coverage, and emphasis of mathematical content, thus deciding what should be included on an assessment is not straightforward. In this chapter, we describe the frameworks for the development of the FIRSTMATH assessments for beginning teachers and their pupils and the challenges in developing versions of various instruments that demonstrate evidence of validity and reliability across multiple national and linguistic contexts

In this chapter, we introduce the reader to the importance of measurement validity and the challenges involved in developing the FIRSTMATH knowledge assessments and questionnaires for beginning primary and secondary teachers and their pupils. There are three main challenges: collecting validity evidence and documenting the entire validation process; providing evidence of measurement invariance which is of particular importance given the international comparative nature of the intended inferences; and the development of scales that are appropriate, meaningful, and useful. Evidence is presented regarding how the FIRSTMATH researchers responded to each challenge, the psychometric properties of the FIRSTMATH assessments, and the procedures used to improve these instruments to measure well across countries.

The design and development of international sampling procedures for FIRSTMATH was directed at resolving issues related to definitions, sampling, and methods before launching a larger comparative study of beginning mathematics teachers. Through the process of planning and enacting the FIRSTMATH study the research team was able to (a) develop a common definition of a “beginning teacher,” (b) determine feasible stratified sampling plans, (c) gain access to teachers and classrooms to collect data, and (d) achieve high response rates.

This chapter introduces the reader to the methods and findings of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded proof-of-concept (PoC) research study of the first 5 years of teaching primary and secondary school mathematics (FIRSTMATH) using a comparative and international approach. Throughout the book, we discuss the challenges entailed in the development of concepts, methods, and strategies for scaling such a study. The research reported in this book builds from the methods and findings of the Teacher Education Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M), and earlier studies that have explored the experiences of beginning teachers. The key question for FIRSTMATH was: How do primary and secondary novice mathematics teachers differ nationally and cross-nationally in their demographic characteristics, preparation, knowledge for teaching, teaching assignments, working conditions, teaching practice, and pupil learning? The FIRSTMATH team developed knowledge tests and background questionnaires for beginning teachers and their pupils, as well as interviews and a mathematics-focused observation protocol to gather more direct evidence of instructional knowledge and practices, and explored an alternative to value added models (VAMs) to model teacher-pupil interactions as teachers pursue instructional goals.

This chapter summarizes the mayor conclusions for the FIRSTMATH Proof-of-Concept study, and includes the FIRSTMATH team reflections on what was accomplished. The chapter outlines future directions for the design of a larger study.

Observations of what teachers do in classrooms is one part of the FIRSTMATH research plan. Since videos are not feasible or permissible in all locations in all countries, the FIRSTMATH team needed a live observation instrument. This chapter reports on key challenges in implementing a live observation instrument including validity evidence to support the use of the instrument for FIRSTMATH purposes across multiple countries in multiple languages; the training and knowledge necessary for observers to achieve reliable observation data; and access to classrooms of novice teachers to actually conduct the observations.

The FIRSTMATH research team developed two questionnaires to obtain information about the contexts of teaching and learning. These included the beginning teacher context questionnaire for beginning mathematics teachers working in primary and secondary schools, and the pupil context questionnaire for pupils in the primary (3 to 6) and secondary (7 to 12) grades. In this chapter we describe the conceptualization, and development of the questionnaires used in the study as well as approaches to analyze and interpret the data collected.

In this article, we report on the challenges entailed in the development of concepts, methods, and strategies for designing and implementing a cross-national research study of the first-years of school-mathematics teaching, including an exploration of how beginning mathematics teachers differ in their preparation, knowledge for teaching, teaching practice, working conditions, and pupil characteristics. The study was designed as a proof-of-concept for a study of teaching and teacher education to be implemented by educationalists, teacher educators, and early career teachers as an ongoing professional endeavor. Primary among the challenges was the development of the sampling design and the construction of measures.

The 13-item Emergency Developmental Assets Profile measures the well-being of children and youth in emergency settings such as refugee camps and armed conflict zones, assessing whether young people are experiencing adequate positive relationships and opportunities, and developing positive values, skills, and self-perceptions, despite being in crisis circumstances. The instrument was found to have acceptable and nearly identical internal consistency reliability in 22 administrations in non-emergency samples in 15 countries (.75), and in 4 samples of youth ages 10-18 (n = 1550) in the emergency settings (war refugees and typhoon victims, .74) that are the measure's focus, and evidence of convergent validity. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed acceptable model fit among those youth in emergency settings. Measures of model fit showed that the Em-DAP has configural and metric invariance across all emergency contexts and scalar invariance across some. The Em-DAP is a promising brief cross-cultural tool for assessing the developmental quality of life as reported by samples of youth in a current humanitarian crisis situation. The results can help to inform international relief program decisions about services and activities to be provided for children, youth, and families in emergency settings.

Recent legislation and federal regulations in education have increased our attention to issues of inclusion, fairness, equity, and access in achievement testing. This has resulted in a growing literature on item writing for accessibility. This chapter provides an overview of the fundamentals of item development, especially as they pertain to accessible assessments. Constructed-response and selected-response items are first introduced and compared, with examples. Next, the item development process and guidelines for effective item writing are presented. Empirical research examining the item development process is then reviewed for general education items and items modified for accessibility. Methods for evaluating item quality, in regard to accessibility, are summarized. Finally, recent innovations and technological enhancements in item development, administration, and scoring are discussed.

In this study we investigate the extent to which differences exist in beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics between future teachers and their teacher educators/professors across five countries, including Chinese Taipei, Poland, Russian Federation, Singapore, and the United States. The analyses include teacher educators and future primary and secondary teachers grouped within institutions within countries and is based on meta-analytic methods to estimate effects within institutions and synthesize them across institutions within a country. We found significant differences in a number of beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics, and for some countries, the differences between future teachers and their educators vary across institutions. In a number of important and somewhat consistent ways, variation in differences in beliefs is explained by future teachers’ opportunities to learn in the areas of mathematics pedagogy, general pedagogy, and field experiences provided by their teacher preparation programs. In addition, program coherence, mathematical content knowledge, and mathematical pedagogical knowledge also moderate the magnitude of differences in beliefs between future teachers and their educators. We discuss the implications of our findings for the design of the curriculum and experiences provided by teacher education programs.

The overall architecture and major components of a measurement system designed and evaluated to support Response to Intervention (RTI) in the areas of language and literacy in early childhood programs are described. Efficient and reliable measurement is essential for implementing any viable RTI system, and implementing such a system in early childhood programs presents several special challenges. This article describes (a) the general approach taken to developing and evaluating this measurement system, including its conceptual and methodological foundations, methods, and results for developing items and scales for second-generation Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs 2.0), and (b) use of these scales in a larger decision-making framework for differentiating language and literacy instruction to match the needs of preschool children at risk of academic difficulties. The authors conclude with a review of some challenges associated with developing measurement for differentiated instruction in early childhood settings.

This study examined the effect of schema-based instruction (SBI) on the proportional problem-solving performance of students with mathematics difficulties only (MD) and students with mathematics and reading difficulties (MDRD). Specifically, we examined the responsiveness of 260 seventh grade students identified as MD or MDRD to a 6-week treatment (SBI) on measures of proportional problem solving. Results indicated that students in the SBI condition significantly outperformed students in the control condition on a measure of proportional problem solving administered at posttest ( g = 0.40) and again 6 weeks later ( g = 0.42). The interaction between treatment group and students’ difficulty status was not significant, which indicates that SBI was equally effective for both students with MD and those with MDRD. Further analyses revealed that SBI was particularly effective at improving students’ performance on items related to percents. Finally, students with MD significantly outperformed students with MDRD on all measures of proportional problem solving. These findings suggest that interventions designed to include effective instructional features (e.g., SBI) promote student understanding of mathematical ideas.

Early comprehension is an important, but not well-understood, contribution to early literacy and language development. Specifically, research regarding the nature of skills representative of early comprehension, including how they contribute to later reading success, is needed to support best practices to adequately prepare students. This article describes the process involved in the creation and refinement of the newly developed comprehension Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs 2.0). Two theoretical models of early comprehension are discussed to highlight the inherent complexity of this domain. Results of three studies are presented: Study 1 outlines the initial piloting process, Study 2 represents a larger-scale investigation, and Study 3 describes further field testing and reveals the final IGDI 2.0 comprehension candidate: Which One Doesn’t Belong (WODB). Results indicated WODB out-performed the other candidate measures across psychometric and pragmatic criteria. The utility of the WODB task within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework is also discussed.

This study compared the effects of delivering a supplemental, small-group tutoring intervention on the mathematics outcomes of third-grade students at risk for mathematics difficulties (MD) who were randomly assigned to either a schema-based instruction (SBI) or control group. SBI emphasized the underlying mathematical structure of additive problems. All students at risk for MD identified through screening received a mathematics intervention in groups of 2–4 for 12 weeks across the school year. Results revealed that students in the SBI group outperformed students in the control group on a word problem solving (WPS) posttest (g = 0.46). The effect of SBI proved to be equivalent for students in both high and low at-risk subgroups. On a district-administered mathematics achievement test, SBI students scored significantly higher than control students (g = 0.34); however, there were no significant effects on the WPS retention test (8 weeks later).

Language skills developed during preschool contribute strongly to later reading and academic achievement. Effective preschool assessment and intervention should focus on core components of language development, specifically oral language skills. The Early Language and Literacy Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) are a set of measures that have demonstrated utility in language and early literacy assessment, evaluation, and intervention studies. The purpose of this article is to describe two studies conducted to build on the existing oral language IGDI, Picture Naming, to increase utility for instructional decision making, particularly within an early childhood Response to Intervention framework. Study 1 outlines the initial development and piloting of potential measures and Study 2 describes the revision and continued analysis of the most promising measures. Results of Study 1 and Study 2 indicate that Picture Naming has continued utility as a measure of oral language skill development and that one newly developed oral language IGDI, Definitional Vocabulary, has potential utility.

Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on differential item functioning in testing, studies have focused on detecting differential item functioning rather than on explaining how or why it may occur. Some recent work has explored sources of differential functioning using explanatory and multilevel item response models. This study uses hierarchical generalized linear modeling to examine differential performance due to gender and opportunity to learn, two variables that have been examined in the literature primarily in isolation, or in terms of mean performance as opposed to item performance. The relationships between item difficulty, gender, and opportunity to learn are explored using data for three countries from an international survey of preservice mathematics teachers.

This study examined the effect of schema-based instruction (SBI) on 7th-grade students’ mathematical problem-solving performance. SBI is an instructional intervention that emphasizes the role of mathematical structure in word problems and also provides students with a heuristic to self-monitor and aid problem solving. Using a pretest-intervention–posttest-retention test design, the study compared the learning outcomes for 1,163 students in 42 classrooms who were randomly assigned to treatment (SBI) or control condition. After 6 weeks of instruction, results of multilevel modeling indicated significant differences favoring the SBI condition in proportion problem solving involving ratios/rates and percents on an immediate posttest (g = 1.24) and on a 6-week retention test (g = 1.27). No significant difference between conditions was found for a test of transfer. These results demonstrate that SBI was more effective than students’ regular mathematics instruction.

Summary Background The effects of breast cancer surgical treatment on the professional singing voice are unknown. Objective The purpose of this study was to discover whether there are self-perceived changes in the quality and/or process of singing experienced by professional female singers who have undergone surgical intervention for the treatment of diagnosed breast cancer—including any changes perceived from the use of radiation, chemotherapy, and other drug treatments related to those surgeries. Methods A voluntary subject pool comprised female professional singers who have undergone surgery for breast cancer was recruited from professional singing networks. Participants underwent evaluation through an anonymous online survey, psychometrically vetted for content and instrument reliability/validity before administration. Results Valid participants (N = 56) responded to 45 questions regarding surgical procedures, related therapies, and self-perceived vocal effects. Analysis of results produced a preliminary description of types of voice change, duration of changes, and qualitative self-perceptions. Conclusions This initial report reveals that there are self-perceived singing voice changes experienced by professional singers treated for breast cancer. However, additional research is needed to determine the degree of vocal impact perceived to be attributable to individual surgical interventions and related therapies.

Subscores are of increasing interest in educational and psychological testing due to their diagnostic function for evaluating examinees' strengths and weaknesses within particular domains of knowledge. Previous studies about the utility of subscores have mostly focused on the overall reliability of individual subscores and ignored the fact that subscores should be distinct and have added value over the total score. This study introduces a profile reliability approach that partitions the overall subscore reliability into within-person and between-person subscore reliability. The estimation of between-person reliability and within-person reliability coefficients is demonstrated using subscores from number-correct scoring, unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory scoring, and augmented scoring approaches via a simulation study and a real data study. The effects of various testing conditions, such as subtest length, correlations among subscores, and the number of subtests, are examined. Results indicate that there is a substantial trade-off between within-person and between-person reliability of subscores. Profile reliability coefficients can be useful in determining the extent to which subscores provide distinct and reliable information under various testing conditions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the impact of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). We used a survey of 401 teachers from three states to probe teacher perspectives across a wide range of topics. Our study found teacher perceptions were more universal than state specific. The mathematics and language arts assessments were viewed by teachers more favorably than the science assessments, and alternate academic achievement standards were viewed more favorably than the assessments. We also found that many teachers are incorporating academic content into their instruction; however, only half of the teachers are in favor of including students with significant intellectual disabilities in assessment and accountability programs, with teachers who administer the least complex assessment to students with the most significant intellectual disability less favorable toward their students' inclusion. The study found that most teachers did not perceive a change in student performance, teacher expectations, or parental involvement; however, where changes were reported, the changes were positive. Results suggest that 30% of teachers have no curriculum and none in development; however, when teachers did have a curriculum, they rated it highly. Results of the study are presented, and their implications are discussed.

This intervention study compared the efficacy of small-group tutoring on the mathematics learning of third-grade students at risk for mathematics difficulty using either a school-provided standards-based curriculum (SBC) or a schema-based instruction (SBI) curriculum. The SBI curriculum placed particular emphasis on the underlying mathematical structure of additive problems to represent and solve word problems. At-risk students ( N = 136) from 35 classrooms scoring below a proficiency level on their district accountability assessment were assigned randomly to treatment groups. Results indicated interaction effects on the word problem-solving (WPS) posttest and retention tests such that SBI students with higher incoming (pretest) WPS scores outperformed SBC students with higher pretest scores, whereas SBC students with lower pretest scores outperformed SBI students with lower pretest scores. No effects were found on number combinations automaticity, and mathematics and reading achievement. Implications to improve the problem-solving performance of at-risk students are discussed.

Recent research on curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency has revealed important issues in current passage development procedures, highlighting how dissimilar passages are problematic for monitoring student progress. The purpose of this paper is to describe statistical equating as an option for achieving equivalent scores across non-parallel reading passages. The psychometric and design properties of words-correct scores are examined, and the requirements of traditional equating methods are discussed. Simulated and empirical words-correct scores are used to demonstrate the steps in the equating process and the situations in which each method is most appropriate.

This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional program (schema-based instruction, SBI) designed to teach 7th graders how to comprehend and solve proportion problems involving ratios/rates, scale drawings, and percents. The SBI program emphasized the underlying mathematical structure of problems via schematic diagrams, focused on a 4-step procedure to support and monitor problem solving, and addressed the flexible use of alternative solution strategies based on the problem situation. Blocking by teacher at three middle schools, the authors randomly assigned the 21 classrooms to one of two conditions: SBI and control. Classroom teachers provided the instruction. Results of multilevel modeling used to test for treatment effects after accounting for pretests and other characteristics (gender, ethnicity) revealed the direct effects of SBI on mathematical problem solving at posttest. However, the improved problem solving skills were not maintained a month later when SBI was no longer in effect nor did the skills transfer to solving problems in new domain-level content.

This study investigated the effects of using modified items in achievement tests to enhance accessibility. An experiment determined whether tests composed of modified items would reduce the performance gap between students eligible for an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) and students not eligible, and the impact on student proficiency levels. Three groups of eighth-grade students ( N = 755) from four states took original and modified versions of reading and mathematics tests. Findings indicate modified item conditions were significantly easier for all students and modifications would result in more AA-MAS eligible students meeting proficiency status. Study limitations and follow-up research on item modifications and the performance of students with disabilities are discussed.

Because of the unique nature of the students eligible for alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards, their varied access to the general education curriculum, and their unique learning needs, innovative psychometric thinking and practice is needed to assure high technical quality of alternate assessments. Indeed, we at least must marshal state-of-the-art procedures to secure strong psychometric evidence to support appropriate and meaningful design and use of these important assessments. The authors contributing work to this special issue, Alternate Assessments Based on Modified Academic Achievement Standards, address important issues and provide guidance to policymakers, test developers, and educators. They also each raise important technical quality issues. This article offers a brief review of such psychometric considerations, in light of the work and comments of the special issue authors.