Reconceptualizing Rapid Responses as a Speededness Indicator in High-Stakes Assessments

AbstractWhen students respond rapidly to an item during an assessment, it suggests that they may have guessed. Guessing adds error to ability estimates. Treating rapid responses as incorrect answers increases the accuracy of ability estimates for timed high-stakes summative tests like the ACT. There are fewer reasons to guess rapidly in non-timed formative tests, like those used as part of many personalized learning systems. Data from approximately 75 thousand formative assessments, from 777 students at two northern California charter high schools, were analyzed. The accuracy of ability estimates is only slightly improved by treating responses made in less than five seconds as incorrect responses. Simulations show that the advantage is related to: whether guesses are made rapidly, the amount of time required for thoughtful responses, the number of response alternatives, and the preponderance of guessing. An R function is presented to implement this procedure. Consequences of using this procedure are discussed.

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Democrazy—Dem Go Craze, O: Monitoring the 1999 Nigerian Elections

Issue A Journal of Opinion ◽

10.1017/s1548450500005862 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 29-33

Author(s):

Darren Kew

Keyword(s):

Transition Program ◽

The Political ◽

High Stakes ◽

Political Class ◽

Soccer Match ◽

The Public ◽

The Military

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.

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School Success and School Engagement of Immigrant Children and Adolescents

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000139 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 126-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽

Ann S. Masten

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Academic Success ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

School Engagement ◽

School Success ◽

Immigrant Children ◽

Integrative Model ◽

High Stakes ◽

The Individual

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.

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