tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121208302024-03-05T03:13:53.239-06:00TrueScoresPointers and perspectives on psychometrics and test and measurement practices.Sarah Gunninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05918182787199580450noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-769729252004647022011-07-26T13:40:00.012-05:002011-07-26T14:09:11.971-05:00My Cat Is Dead! -- A Physics ProblemLet me start by saying that I am a physics nut who has been known to worship at the altar of Richard Feynman on occasion. So, you will not likely be surprised to discover that I was mesmerized by a recent article in the New Yorker by Rivka Galchen regarding quantum computing. You might be surprised that an old psychometrician reads the New Yorker (or even that I can read), but let me assure you IPearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-65716006433775608892011-05-09T13:04:00.000-05:002011-05-09T13:07:09.066-05:00What is “Out-of-Level” Content for the Digital Learner?The influential Digital Learning Now! report provides a roadmap that lawmakers and policymakers can use to integrate digital learning into education. Among other elements, this report calls out the importance of personalized learning: the idea that all students can customize their education using digital content through an approved provider. A related concept called out by the report is that Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-63237961045774740552011-03-25T10:11:00.001-05:002011-03-25T10:11:04.022-05:00Performance-based assessments: A brave, new worldPerformance assessments. Performance-based assessments. Authentic assessments. Constructed response, open-ended, performance tasks. Our field has devised many terms to describe assessments in which examinees demonstrate some type of performance or create some type of product. Whatever you call them, performance-based assessments (PBAs) have a long history in educational measurement with cycles ofPearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-2700307037237572072011-03-14T09:04:00.003-05:002011-03-14T09:10:49.905-05:00Teacher Effectiveness Measures: The Tortoise and the HareSeveral recent initiatives have fueled a firestorm of debate around measuring the effectiveness of our teachers. In the competition for billions of dollars through both Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund, responding states and districts were required to propose measures of teacher effectiveness that incorporate student growth data. Most of the applicants that were awarded these funds Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-19688630070390396752011-02-25T10:36:00.007-06:002011-02-25T11:31:26.342-06:00Old Dogs Need New TricksAs soon as I finished graduate school my husband and I got two puppies, small Italian Greyhounds named Cyclone and Thunder. We named them after the mascots from our undergraduate universities. We took them everywhere with us and spoiled them rotten until the kids arrived. Once we had a toddler walking around the house, it was obvious that these old dogs needed to learn some new tricks. We had to Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-27013813530071554202011-02-08T10:44:00.000-06:002011-02-08T09:57:52.961-06:00Commonality in Assessment SolutionsWhy isn’t it simple to develop common (off-the-shelf) solutions for processing assessments? I have come to realize that this industry does have some very subtle (and some not so subtle) complexities. Is all of this complexity really necessary?I see two levels of complexity in assessment processing:1. Developing, processing, scoring, and reporting assessments themselves, and 2. Handling the Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-63838430602891300912011-01-25T10:15:00.012-06:002011-01-27T10:19:52.782-06:00Interoperability: What a ConceptI am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the first True Scores blog of 2011. I thought a worthy topic to talk about is the concept of interoperability, which is quite a hot potato in assessment circles these days.Many in the assessment world are waiting anxiously for the requests for proposals to develop the new Common Core assessments, and we know that both of the consortia funded Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-1053798280054459322010-11-22T10:36:00.008-06:002010-11-29T10:56:05.324-06:00Where Will Innovation Come From?I have just come from a learning trajectories conference associated with the DELTA Project at North Carolina State University. This conference was supported by the Pearson Foundation. At this event, there was a lot of talk about innovation in how and what we assess, including talk about so-called “innovative” items. Those are items that might use simulation, multimedia and figural response item Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-79110745047312094682010-11-02T13:42:00.007-05:002010-11-02T13:54:13.456-05:00TrueScores ReduxWelcome to the first blog entry under our new editorial format! In the past, different staff members from Research Services have taken turns writing blog entries. The result was some interesting blogs but not really a consistent voice. So we decided to try something different. First, we will have a blog writer appointed to a six month term (or sentence). Obviously, I’m the first blogger. IfPearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-34401449765801262452010-10-14T15:47:00.000-05:002010-10-14T15:53:39.949-05:00Success on the Largest ScaleThis summer I had the pleasure of working with Heather Klesch, Senior Area Director, and Tracey Magda, Psychometrician, at the Evaluation Systems group of Pearson in Hadley, Massachusetts. As mentors Heather and Tracey designed an internship comprised of three major events: (1) drafting a technical manual, (2) researching contact modes, and (3) assisting at a national benchmark-setting Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-35637379715613057312010-10-08T14:46:00.000-05:002010-10-08T15:07:23.485-05:00Professionals Sharing KnowledgeMy summer internship at Pearson in San Antonio, Texas, has been a rewarding experience. I worked along side exceptional individuals and gained valuable experience. In addition, I developed new friendships.Over the eight weeks, I worked primarily on a research project that dealt with the selection of common items in creating a vertical scale. The study investigated how decisions such as the Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-37056551231290725942010-09-28T10:16:00.000-05:002010-09-28T10:32:16.900-05:00Trends in Alternate AssessmentsWhile working for Pearson we have seen a shift in the assessment of students receiving special education services that, for the most part, seems to be in the right direction. The movement away from off-grade level testing was at first met with resistance and disbelief from state departments, contractors, and teachers but now seems to be reluctantly accepted. The introduction of the 1% (alternate Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-88600551445247014882010-09-16T11:46:00.000-05:002010-09-16T11:46:00.856-05:00Under PressureI cannot seem to get the rhythmic refrain of the famous Queen/David Bowie song “Under Pressure” out of my head when thinking about Common Core and the Race to the Top (RTTT) Assessment Consortia these days. Yes, this is a remarkable time in education presenting us with opportunities to reform teaching, learning, assessment, and the role of data in educational decision making, and all of those Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-51143356976438269042010-08-31T13:36:00.000-05:002010-08-31T13:36:00.589-05:00Lessons Learned from a Psychometric Internship“Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. How do these people get any work done?” This was one of my first impressions of Pearson. Well, as I quickly learned, much of the work gets done through the meetings. By including everyone with a need to know, and by meeting frequently, projects are kept moving forward smoothly with no items being overlooked or persons left out. Not only does this contribute to Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-25482305413809095732010-08-24T11:23:00.000-05:002010-08-24T11:50:37.769-05:00Reflecting on a Psychometric InternshipThe summer of 2010 was an unusual one in my career life: I was fortunately selected as a summer psychometric intern working in Iowa City. The short eight weeks turned out to be my most productive and memorable period during my years of graduate study. Not only did I develop two AERA proposals out of the projects I participated in, but I got to know a group of wonderful researchers in the Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-48269471181631961422010-08-04T10:37:00.000-05:002010-08-04T10:37:00.380-05:00Educational Data Mining Conference -- Part TwoExploratory learning environments, by their nature, allow students to freely explore a target domain. Nonetheless, the art of teaching compels us to provide appropriate, timely supports for students, especially for those who don’t learn well in such independent situations. While intelligent tutoring systems are designed to identify and deliver pedagogical and cognitive supports adaptively Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-77190970291982038012010-08-02T13:43:00.002-05:002010-08-02T13:44:25.202-05:00Educational Data Mining Conference -- Part OneThe Third International Conference on Educational Data Mining was held in Pittsburgh in June. The conference began in Montreal two years ago as an offshoot of the Intelligent Tutoring Systems Conference (held this year in Pittsburgh immediately following). A small (approximately 100 participants), single-track conference, participants are mostly academicians in the fields of cognitive Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-58334642722347310592010-07-26T14:22:00.000-05:002010-07-26T14:22:00.194-05:00Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment Article: The Effectiveness of Distributed Training for Writing Assessment RatersRead the latest published article from several of our research colleagues:The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment (JTLA)Volume 10, Number 1, July 2010The Effectiveness and Efficiency of Distributed Online, Regional Online, and Regional Face-to-Face Training for Writing Assessment Raters Edward W. Wolfe, Staci Matthews, and Daisy Vickers This study examined the influence of rater Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-15099267907932849402010-07-07T11:18:00.002-05:002010-07-07T11:26:10.294-05:00Impressions of 2010 CCSSO ConferenceThis year, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Large-Scale Assessment conference took place in Detroit, the world's automotive center. The weather was a pleasant contrast compared to the heat in Texas, where I live and work. As the conference overlapped with River Days, it was nice to share in the festive atmosphere. The 30-minute fireworks display was splendid. The participantsPearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-44682653198715710782010-06-30T09:01:00.001-05:002010-06-30T09:01:00.840-05:00Abandoning the PejorativePsychometricians often speak of error in educational and psychological measurement. But error seems like such a pejorative term. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an error is "an act involving an unintentional deviation from truth or accuracy." In ordinary language, error suggests unflattering connotations and alarming inferences. Under classical Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-14002310281290596342010-06-14T13:52:00.010-05:002010-06-14T15:10:04.182-05:00Pearson at CCSSO - June 20-23. 2010I'm looking forward to seeing folks at the upcoming Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) National Conference on Student Assessment (in Detroit, June 20-23, 2010). Pearson employees will be making the following presentations. We hope to see you there. Multi-State American Diploma Project Assessment Consortium: The Lessons We’ve Learned and What Lies AheadSunday, June 20, 2010: 1:30 Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-21603710240635319232010-06-09T13:55:00.000-05:002010-06-09T14:00:32.643-05:00Innovative TestingInnovative testing refers to the use of novel methods to test students in richer ways than can be accomplished using traditional testing approaches. This generally means the use of technology like computers to deliver test questions that require students to watch or listen to multimedia stimuli, manipulate virtual objects in interactive situations, and/or construct rather than select their Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-4148304787548400072010-06-02T15:21:00.004-05:002010-06-02T15:34:44.318-05:00Where has gone the luxury of contemplation?I ran across an Excel spreadsheet from some years ago that I had used to plan my trip to attend the 2004 NCME conference in San Diego. The weather was memorable that year. But I also attended a number of sessions during which interesting papers were presented and discussants and audience members made compelling comments. My new memories of the 2010 NCME conference are different. I am Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-24266777772395240172010-04-29T16:09:00.004-05:002010-05-19T09:03:48.780-05:00Pearson’s participation at AERA and NCMEAs I read the latest TMRS Newsletter, I was reminded of my first days at Pearson. Back then, the department, lead by Jon Twing, consisted of 5 other staff. We were called psychometricians and we worked closely together across operational testing programs.The department grew rapidly after that. As part of that growth, Jon and I created the Researcher-Practitioner model as an ideal. Under the Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12120830.post-4954586984429377192010-04-07T08:15:00.001-05:002010-04-07T08:16:01.127-05:00Performance-based Assessment ReduxCycles in educational testing continue to repeat. The promotion and use of performance-based assessments is one such cycle. Performance-based assessment involves the observation of students performing authentic tasks in a domain. The assessments may be conducted in a more- or less-formal context. The performance may be live or may be reflected in artifacts such as essays or drawings. Pearson's Research Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02697831921566125491noreply@blogger.com0