Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, girls earn higher grades than boys in all major subjects. Girls, however, do not outperform boys on achievement or IQ tests. To date, explanations for the underprediction of girls' GPAs by standardized tests have focused on gender differences favoring boys on such tests. The authors' investigation suggests an additional explanation: Girls are more self-disciplined, and this advantage is more relevant to report card grades than to achievement or aptitude tests. Eighth-grade girls at an urban magnet school were more self-disciplined than their male counterparts according to delay of gratification measures and self-report, teacher, and parent ratings. Whereas girls earned higher grades in all courses, they did only marginally better on an achievement test and worse on an IQ test. Mediation analyses suggested girls earned higher GPAs at least in part because they were more self-disciplined.

Self-discipline gives girls the edge : Gender in self-discipline, grades, and achievement test scores

A female advantage in school marks is a common finding in education research, and it extends to most course subjects (e.g., language, math, science), unlike what is found on achievement tests. However, questions remain concerning the quantification of these gender differences and the identification of relevant moderator variables. The present meta-analysis answered these questions by examining studies that included an evaluation of gender differences in teacher-assigned school marks in elementary, junior/middle, or high school or at the university level (both undergraduate and graduate). The final analysis was based on 502 effect sizes drawn from 369 samples. A multilevel approach to meta-analysis was used to handle the presence of nonindependent effect sizes in the overall sample. This method was complemented with an examination of results in separate subject matters with a mixed-effects metaanalytic model. A small but significant female advantage (mean d 0.225, 95% CI [0.201, 0.249]) was demonstrated for the overall sample of effect sizes. Noteworthy findings were that the female advantage was largest for language courses (mean d 0.374, 95% CI [0.316, 0.432]) and smallest for math courses (mean d 0.069, 95% CI [0.014, 0.124]). Source of marks, nationality, racial composition of samples, and gender composition of samples were significant moderators of effect sizes. Finally, results showed that the magnitude of the female advantage was not affected by year of publication, thereby contradicting claims of a recent “boy crisis” in school achievement. The present meta-analysis demonstrated the presence of a stable female advantage in school marks while also identifying critical moderators. Implications for future educational and psychological research are discussed.

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Gender differences in scholastic achievement: a meta-analysis.

The underrepresentation of women at the top of math-intensive fields is controversial, with competing claims of biological and sociocultural causation. The authors develop a framework to delineate possible causal pathways and evaluate evidence for each. Biological evidence is contradictory and inconclusive. Although cross-cultural and cross-cohort differences suggest a powerful effect of sociocultural context, evidence for specific factors is inconsistent and contradictory. Factors unique to underrepresentation in math-intensive fields include the following: (a) Math-proficient women disproportionately prefer careers in non–math-intensive fields and are more likely to leave math-intensive careers as they advance; (b) more men than women score in the extreme math-proficient range on gatekeeper tests, such as the SAT Mathematics and the Graduate Record Examinations Quantitative Reasoning sections; (c) women with high math competence are disproportionately more likely to have high verbal competence, allowing greater choice of professions; and (d) in some math-intensive fields, women with children are penalized in promotion rates. The evidence indicates that women’s preferences, potentially representing both free and constrained choices, constitute the most powerful explanatory factor; a secondary factor is performance on gatekeeper tests, most likely resulting from sociocultural rather than biological causes.

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Women's underrepresentation in science: sociocultural and biological considerations.

Acknowledgments vii Preface xiii Chapter 1. Educational Attainment: Overall Trends, Disparities, and the Public Universities We Study 1 Chapter 2. Bachelor's Degree Attainment on a National Level 20 Chapter 3. Finishing College at Public Universities 32 Chapter 4. Fields of Study, Time-to-Degree, and College Grades 57 Chapter 5. High Schools and "Undermatching" 87 Chapter 6. Test Scores and High School Grades as Predictors 112 Chapter 7. Transfer Students and the Path from Two-Year to Four-Year Colleges 134 Chapter 8. Financial Aid and Pricing on a National Level 149 Chapter 9. Financial Aid at Public Universities 166 Chapter 10. Institutional Selectivity and Institutional Effects 192 Chapter 11. Target Populations 207 Chapter 12. Looking Ahead 223 Appendix A. The Modern Evolution of America's Flagship Universities by Eugene M. Tobin 239 Notes 265 List of Figures 337 List of Tables 347 List of Appendix Tables 349 References 357 Index 377

Crossing the Finish Line:: Completing College at America’s Public Universities (Association for Institutional Research, May 30, 2010)

This study connected home and school literacy contexts by involving parents in developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive literacy activities with their children. The purpose of the program was to enhance children's achievement and interest in literacy. The family program was similar to a literature-based school program that included classroom literacy centers, teacher-modeled literature activities, and literacy center time. Meetings were held monthly, with parents, teachers, and children all working together. The program was in an inner-city school district including African American and Latino families. There were 56 children in 1st through 3rd grades (28 in the experimental group and 28 in the control). Pre- and posttest data determined achievement and motivation differences favoring the children in the family program.

A family literacy program connecting school and home : Effects on attitude, motivation, and literacy achievement

Differential Validity, Differential Prediction, and College Admission Testing: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis. Research Report No. 2001-6.

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Differential Validity, Differential Prediction,and College Admission Testing: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis

Membrane proteins are difficult to work with due to their insolubility in aqueous solution and quite often their poor stability in detergent micelles. Here, we present the peptidisc for their facile capture into water-soluble particles. Unlike the nanodisc, which requires scaffold proteins of different lengths and precise amounts of matching lipids, reconstitution of detergent solubilized proteins in peptidisc only requires a short amphipathic bi-helical peptide (NSPr) and no extra lipids. Multiple copies of the peptide wrap around to shield the membrane-exposed part of the target protein. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this 'one size fits all' method using five different membrane protein assemblies (MalFGK2, FhuA, SecYEG, OmpF, BRC) during 'on-column', 'in-gel', and 'on-bead' reconstitution embedded within the membrane protein purification protocol. The peptidisc method is rapid and cost-effective, and it may emerge as a universal tool for high-throughput stabilization of membrane proteins to advance modern biological studies.

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The Peptidisc, a simple method for stabilizing membrane proteins in detergent-free solution.

The possibility of differential prediction of college academic performance for men and women is, at present, an issue of concern both to measurement specialists and to the general public In prior studies, the use of a single equation to predict grade point average (GPA) from preadmissions measures has generally led to the systematic underprediction of women's college grades In the following study, Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to develop a form of adjusted cumulative GPA, called the IRT-based GPA Significant underprediction for women occurred using a version of the cumulative GPA as the outcome measure In contrast, the use of the IRT-based GPA indicated no significant underprediction for men or women A single regression equation worked best in predicting both men's and women's IRT-based GPA In addition, the IRT-based GPA was substantially more predictable from preadmissions measures than the cumulative GPA

John W. Young

Papers

A family literacy program connecting school and home : Effects on attitude, motivation, and literacy achievement

Differential Validity, Differential Prediction, and College Admission Testing: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis. Research Report No. 2001-6.

Differential Validity, Differential Prediction,and College Admission Testing: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis

The Peptidisc, a simple method for stabilizing membrane proteins in detergent-free solution.

Gender Bias in Predicting College Academic Performance: A New Approach Using Item Response Theory.