This study used generalizability theory to measure reliability on the Recognizing Effective Special Education Teachers (RESET) observation tool designed to evaluate special education teacher effectiveness. At the time of this study, the RESET tool included three evidence-based instructional practices (direct, explicit instruction; whole-group…

Adapted from the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised, the Chinese Early Childhood Program Rating Scale (CECPRS) is a culturally comparable measure for assessing the quality of early childhood education and care programs in the Chinese cultural/social contexts. In this study, 176 kindergarten classrooms were rated with CECPRS on eight…

Observational methods are increasingly being used in classrooms to evaluate the quality of teaching. Operational procedures for observing teachers are somewhat arbitrary in existing measures and vary across different instruments. To study the effect of different observation procedures on score reliability and validity, we conducted an experimental…

The article discusses comparative organizational studies, focusing on change in higher education institutions, and in particular (but not only) on studies that compare organizations in different national settings. It first presents and discusses different approaches to comparison based on a couple of typologies that have been developed to identify…

The multiple mini-interview (MMI) has become an increasingly popular admissions method for selecting prospective students into professional programs (e.g., medical school). The MMI uses a series of short, labour intensive simulation stations and scenario interviews to more effectively assess applicants' non-cognitive qualities such as…

This study examined ratings of fourth graders' oral reading expression. Randomly assigned participants (n = 36) practiced repeated readings using narrative or informational passages for 7 weeks. After this period raters used the "Multidimensional Fluency Scale" (MFS) on two separate occasions to rate students' expressive…

Evidence of stable standard setting results over panels or occasions is an important part of the validity argument for an established cut score. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of convening multiple panels of content experts, standards often are based on the recommendation from a single panel of judges. This approach implicitly assumes that…

We present the development and validation of a science notebook rubric intended to measure the academic language and conceptual understanding of non-mainstream students, specifically fifth-grade male and female economically disadvantaged Hispanic English language learner (ELL) and African-American or Hispanic native English-speaking students. The…

This article presents a comparative judgment approach for holistically scored constructed response tasks. In this approach, the grader rank orders (rather than rate) the quality of a small set of responses. A prior automated evaluation of responses guides both set formation and scaling of rankings. Sets are formed to have similar prior scores and…

In the present study a generalized approach is given for the description of acquisition procedures with a particular focus on the knowledge acquisition process. The learning progression is given as an example here letting the theory to be applied to different situations. An analytical approach is performed starting from the generalized fundamental…

The data collection of a cohort study requires making many decisions. Each decision may introduce error in the statistical analyses conducted later on. In the present study, a procedure was developed for estimation of the error made due to the composition of the sample, the item selection procedure, and the test equating process. The math results…

Developing indicators that reflect important aspects of school and classroom environments has become central in a nationwide effort to develop comprehensive programs that measure teacher quality and effectiveness. Formulating teacher evaluation policy necessitates accurate and reliable methods for measuring these environmental variables. This…

Researchers often use generalizability theory to estimate relative error variance and reliability in teaching observation measures. They also use it to plan future studies and design the best possible measurement procedures. However, designing the best possible measurement procedure comes at a cost, and researchers must stay within their budget…

The authors argue for a reconceptualization of rigor that requires sustained, direct, and systematic documentation of what takes place inside programs to document how students and teachers change and adapt interventions in interactions with each other in relation to their dynamic local contexts. Building on promising new programs at the Institute…

In adolescence research, the treatment of measurement reliability is often fragmented, and it is not always clear how different reliability coefficients are related. We show that generalizability theory (G-theory) is a comprehensive framework of measurement reliability, encompassing all other reliability methods (e.g., Pearson "r,"…