A Multivariate Multilevel Approach to the Modeling of Accuracy and Speed of Test Takers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein Entink, R. H.; Fox, J. P.; van der Linden, W. J.

2009-01-01

Response times on test items are easily collected in modern computerized testing. When collecting both (binary) responses and (continuous) response times on test items, it is possible to measure the accuracy and speed of test takers. To study the relationships between these two constructs, the model is extended with a multivariate multilevel…

The Effects of Group Members' Personalities on a Test Taker's L2 Group Oral Discussion Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ockey, Gary J.

2009-01-01

The second language group oral is a test of second language speaking proficiency, in which a group of three or more English language learners discuss an assigned topic without interaction with interlocutors. Concerns expressed about the extent to which test takers' personal characteristics affect the scores of others in the group have limited its…

Effects of Test Media on Different EFL Test-Takers in Writing Scores and in the Cognitive Writing Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zou, Xiao-Ling; Chen, Yan-Min

2016-01-01

The effects of computer and paper test media on EFL test-takers with different computer familiarity in writing scores and in the cognitive writing process have been comprehensively explored from the learners' aspect as well as on the basis of related theories and practice. The results indicate significant differences in test scores among the…

An Empirical Comparison of Methods for Equating with Randomly Equivalent Groups of 50 to 400 Test Takers. Research Report. ETS RR-10-05

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingston, Samuel A.; Kim, Sooyeon

2010-01-01

A series of resampling studies investigated the accuracy of equating by four different methods in a random groups equating design with samples of 400, 200, 100, and 50 test takers taking each form. Six pairs of forms were constructed. Each pair was constructed by assigning items from an existing test taken by 9,000 or more test takers. The…

Stereotype threat? Effects of inquiring about test takers' gender on conceptual test performance in physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maries, Alexandru; Singh, Chandralekha

2015-12-01

It has been found that activation of a stereotype, for example by indicating one's gender before a test, typically alters performance in a way consistent with the stereotype, an effect called "stereotype threat." On a standardized conceptual physics assessment, we found that asking test takers to indicate their gender right before taking the test did not deteriorate performance compared to an equivalent group who did not provide gender information. Although a statistically significant gender gap was present on the standardized test whether or not students indicated their gender, no gender gap was observed on the multiple-choice final exam students took, which included both quantitative and conceptual questions on similar topics.

Evaluation of Score Interpretive Information from the Perspective of Failed and Passed Test-Takers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shannon, Gregory A.

Candidates who had taken examinations for certification required by the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) were surveyed to acquire feedback about the effectiveness of score interpretive information given to test takers. Those sampled included 488 passers and 389 failers of the Inventory Management (IM) examination and 457…

The Speaking Section of the TOEFL iBT[TM] (SSTiBT): Test-Takers' Reported Strategic Behaviors. TOEFL iBT[TM] Research Report. RR-09-30

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swain, Merrill; Huang, Li-Shih; Barkaoui, Khaled; Brooks, Lindsay; Lapkin, Sharon

2009-01-01

This study responds to the Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM] (TOEFL[R]) research agenda concerning the need to understand the processes and knowledge that test-takers utilize. Specifically, it investigates the strategic behaviors test-takers reported using when taking the Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT[TM] (SSTiBT). It also investigates…

Perspective-takers behave more stereotypically.

PubMed

Galinsky, Adam D; Wang, Cynthia S; Ku, Gillian

2008-08-01

Nine studies demonstrated that perspective-takers are particularly likely to adopt a target's positive and negative stereotypical traits and behaviors. Perspective-takers rated both positive and negative stereotypic traits of targets as more self-descriptive. As a result, taking the perspective of a professor led to improved performance on an analytic task, whereas taking the perspective of a cheerleader led to decreased performance, in line with the respective stereotypes of professors and cheerleaders. Similarly, perspective-takers of an elderly target competed less compared to perspective-takers of an African American target. Including the stereotype in the self (but not liking of the target) mediated the effects of perspective-taking on behavior, suggesting that cognitive and not affective processes drove the behavioral effects. These effects occurred using a measure and multiple manipulations of perspective-taking, as well as a panoply of stereotypes, establishing the robustness of the link between perspective-taking and stereotypical behavior. The findings support theorizing (A. D. Galinsky, G. Ku, & C. S. Wang, 2005) that perspective-takers utilize information, including stereotypes, to coordinate their behavior with others and provide key theoretical insights into the processes of both perspective-taking and behavioral priming. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Test Takers' Attitudes about the TOEFL iBT[TM]. TOEFL iBT Research Report. RR-10-2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stricker, Lawrence J.; Attali, Yigal

2010-01-01

The principal aims of this study, a conceptual replication of an earlier investigation of the TOEFL[R] computer-based test, or TOEFL CBT, in Buenos Aires, Cairo, and Frankfurt, were to assess test takers' reported acceptance of the TOEFL Internet-based test, or TOEFL iBT[TM], and its associations with possible determinants of this acceptance and…

Examining Linguistic Characteristics of Paraphrase in Test-Taker Summaries. Research Report. ETS RR-12-18

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burstein, Jill; Flor, Michael; Tetreault, Joel; Madnani, Nitin; Holtzman, Steven

2012-01-01

This annotation study is designed to help us gain an increased understanding of paraphrase strategies used by native and nonnative English speakers and how these strategies might affect test takers' essay scores. Toward that end, this study aims to examine and analyze the paraphrase and the types of linguistic modifications used in paraphrase in…

Reliable Predictors of Reduced Redundancy Test Performance: The Interaction between Lexical Bonds and Test Takers' Depth and Breadth of Vocabulary Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janebi Enayat, Mostafa; Babaii, Esmat

2018-01-01

The present study intended to investigate whether test takers' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge can contribute to their efficient use of lexical bonds while restoring damaged texts in reduced redundancy tests. Moreover, the moderating role of general language proficiency was investigated in this interaction. In so doing, Vocabulary Levels…

Investigating the Validity of an Integrated Listening-Speaking Task: A Discourse-Based Analysis of Test Takers' Oral Performances

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frost, Kellie; Elder, Catherine; Wigglesworth, Gillian

2012-01-01

Performance on integrated tasks requires candidates to engage skills and strategies beyond language proficiency alone, in ways that can be difficult to define and measure for testing purposes. While it has been widely recognized that stimulus materials impact test performance, our understanding of the way in which test takers make use of these…

A Comparison of Achievement Gaps and Test-Taker Characteristics on Computer-Delivered and Paper-Delivered "Praxis I"® Tests. Research Report. ETS RR-14-35

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinberg, Jonathan; Brenneman, Meghan; Castellano, Karen; Lin, Peng; Miller, Susanne

2014-01-01

Test providers are increasingly moving toward exclusively administering assessments by computer. Computerized testing is becoming more desirable for test takers because of increased opportunities to test, faster turnaround of individual scores, or perhaps other factors, offering potential benefits for those who may be struggling to pass licensure…

Understanding Captive-Takers Motivations, Methods and Targets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larned, Jean Garner

2011-01-01

Understanding Captive-Takers Motivations, Methods and Targets is the ultimate goal in order to help those who train, manage and prevent hostage taking events which include police officers, negotiators, recovery personnel, academics and psychologists. The overall lack of literature relating to the topic of captive-taker motivations is another…

Investigating the Relationship between Test-Taker Background Characteristics and Test Performance in a Heterogeneous English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) Test Population: A Factor Analytic Approach. Research Report. ETS RR-15-25

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manna, Venessa F.; Yoo, Hanwook

2015-01-01

This study examined the heterogeneity in the English-as-a-second-language (ESL) test population by modeling the relationship between test-taker background characteristics and test performance as measured by the "TOEFL iBT"® using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with covariate approach. The background characteristics studied…

Test Takers' Writing Activities during the "TOEFL iBT"® Writing Tasks: A Stimulated Recall Study. "TOEFL iBT"® Research Report. TOEFL iBT-25. ETS Research Report No. RR-15-04

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkaoui, Khaled

2015-01-01

This study aimed to describe the writing activities that test takers engage in when responding to the writing tasks in the "TOEFL iBT"[superscript R] test and to examine the effects of task type and test-taker English language proficiency (ELP) and keyboarding skills on the frequency and distribution of these activities. Each of 22 test…

Taking the Test Taker's Perspective: Response Process and Test Motivation in Multidimensional Forced-Choice Versus Rating Scale Instruments.

PubMed

Sass, Rachelle; Frick, Susanne; Reips, Ulf-Dietrich; Wetzel, Eunike

2018-03-01

The multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) format has been proposed as an alternative to the rating scale (RS) response format. However, it is unclear how changing the response format may affect the response process and test motivation of participants. In Study 1, we investigated the MFC response process using the think-aloud technique. In Study 2, we compared test motivation between the RS format and different versions of the MFC format (presenting 2, 3, 4, and 5 items simultaneously). The response process to MFC item blocks was similar to the RS response process but involved an additional step of weighing the items within a block against each other. The RS and MFC response format groups did not differ in their test motivation. Thus, from the test taker's perspective, the MFC format is somewhat more demanding to respond to, but this does not appear to decrease test motivation.

Use of Automated Scoring in Spoken Language Assessments for Test Takers with Speech Impairments. Research Report. ETS RR-17-42

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loukina, Anastassia; Buzick, Heather

2017-01-01

This study is an evaluation of the performance of automated speech scoring for speakers with documented or suspected speech impairments. Given that the use of automated scoring of open-ended spoken responses is relatively nascent and there is little research to date that includes test takers with disabilities, this small exploratory study focuses…

Identifying Speech Acts in E-Mails: Toward Automated Scoring of the "TOEIC"® E-Mail Task. Research Report. ETS RR-12-16

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Felice, Rachele; Deane, Paul

2012-01-01

This study proposes an approach to automatically score the "TOEIC"® Writing e-mail task. We focus on one component of the scoring rubric, which notes whether the test-takers have used particular speech acts such as requests, orders, or commitments. We developed a computational model for automated speech act identification and tested it…

In the company of givers and takers.

PubMed

Grant, Adam

2013-04-01

Employees make decisions every day about whether to contribute to others--and their willingness to help is crucial to group and organizational effectiveness. But in a competitive, often zero-sum, world of work, generosity can be a dangerous path. How can leaders foster it without cutting into productivity, undermining fairness, and allowing employees to become doormats? The key, explains Wharton's Adam Grant, is to help givers reach a more nuanced understanding of what generosity is and is not. They'll be better positioned for sustainable giving when they can distinguish generosity from three attributes that often travel with it: timidity, availability, and empathy. Givers can overcome timidity, Grant says, by learning to act as agents--using "relational accounts" to advocate for others while negotiating for themselves. They can set boundaries on when, how, and whom to help. And they can strive to be perspective takers, not just empathizers, gathering knowledge about others that can lead to more-productive allocations of time that will benefit the organization as a whole.

Selection Bias in College Admissions Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Melissa; Rothstein, Jesse; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

2009-01-01

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within…

Selection Bias in College Admissions Test Scores. NBER Working Paper No. 14265

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Melissa; Rothstein, Jesse; Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore

2008-01-01

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within…

Onsite psychological evaluation of a hostage taker.

PubMed

Rueth, T W

1993-10-01

Many law enforcement agencies have responded to the challenge of dealing with hostage situations by developing negotiation teams that include psychological consultants. These consultants are useful in determining whether the hostage taker is mentally ill and suggesting possible strategies for negotiation. The traditional psychological evaluation must be modified to fit the unique stresses and requirements of a hostage situation. Suggested is an onsite assessment that includes a mental status evaluation based on observation of a client and a selective history taken from collateral sources.

From Test Takers to Test Makers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Kari

2009-01-01

As a classroom teacher, Kari Smith realized that traditional objective tests don't always assess what students actually know. But tests are so deeply embedded in the education system that it would be difficult to do away with them entirely. Smith decided to make tests into learning tools. In this article, Smith describes three strategies for…

Rethinking construction: inclusion of slow learners as taker-off in quantity surveying practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majid, Masidah Abdul; Ashaari, Norul Izzati M.; @ Suhana Kamarudin Nurul Aini Osman, Suhaida; Suhaimi, Mohamad Saifulnizam Mohd

2017-11-01

The objective of this paper is to present the preliminary findings regarding the participation of OKU with learning disability in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sectors. Review of the works of past researchers suggested that OKU is a potential workforce in STEM sectors but still under-represented due to lack of efforts from stakeholders and learning institutions in providing information on the opportunities that are available. A research has been initiated to explore the potential of slow learners to become workforce in the construction industry as a taker off - part of work of a Quantity Surveyor. Against the findings from the literature review, the modest attempt to attract slow learners to become taker off in the construction industry require the formulation of appropriate learning environment and strong support from the respective key players and stakeholders.

Testing for Aberrant Behavior in Response Time Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marianti, Sukaesi; Fox, Jean-Paul; Avetisyan, Marianna; Veldkamp, Bernard P.; Tijmstra, Jesper

2014-01-01

Many standardized tests are now administered via computer rather than paper-and-pencil format. In a computer-based testing environment, it is possible to record not only the test taker's response to each question (item) but also the amount of time spent by the test taker in considering and answering each item. Response times (RTs) provide…

Effective Communication with the Impulsive Risk Taker: Hypotheses from Four Focus Groups.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valenti, J. M.; Ferguson, M. A.

A study investigated how impulsiveness affects perceptions of risks, and examined message strategies that might be effective in reaching risk-takers. Twenty-two undergraduate subjects who scored high on a risk-taking measure/survey participated in one of four 60-90 minute focus groups in which participants discussed their health, their concerns…

Obstetrician/Gynecologists and Postpartum Mental Health: Differences between CME Course Takers and Nontakers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leddy, Meaghan A.; Farrow, Victoria A.; Joseph, Gerald F., Jr.; Schulkin, Jay

2012-01-01

Introduction: Continuing medical education (CME) courses are an essential component of professional development. Research indicates a continued need for understanding how and why physicians select certain CME courses, as well as the differences between CME course takers and nontakers. Purpose: Obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) are health care…

Analyzing Test-Taking Behavior: Decision Theory Meets Psychometric Theory.

PubMed

Budescu, David V; Bo, Yuanchao

2015-12-01

We investigate the implications of penalizing incorrect answers to multiple-choice tests, from the perspective of both test-takers and test-makers. To do so, we use a model that combines a well-known item response theory model with prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk, Econometrica 47:263-91, 1979). Our results reveal that when test-takers are fully informed of the scoring rule, the use of any penalty has detrimental effects for both test-takers (they are always penalized in excess, particularly those who are risk averse and loss averse) and test-makers (the bias of the estimated scores, as well as the variance and skewness of their distribution, increase as a function of the severity of the penalty).

A Paradox in the Study of the Benefits of Test-Item Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linden, Wim J.; Jeon, Minjeong; Ferrara, Steve

2011-01-01

According to a popular belief, test takers should trust their initial instinct and retain their initial responses when they have the opportunity to review test items. More than 80 years of empirical research on item review, however, has contradicted this belief and shown minor but consistently positive score gains for test takers who changed…

Note-Taking Quality and Performance on an L2 Academic Listening Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Song, Min-Young

2012-01-01

This study investigated the relationships among the quality of L2 test takers' notes evaluated in terms of different levels of information and test takers' performance on open-ended listening tasks tapping into different comprehension subskills. In addition, this study examined the invariance of the structural relationships among the variables…

Test Review: TestDaF

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norris, John; Drackert, Anastasia

2018-01-01

The Test of German as a Foreign Language (TestDaF) plays a critical role as a standardized test of German language proficiency. Developed and administered by the Society for Academic Study Preparation and Test Development (g.a.s.t.), TestDaF was launched in 2001 and has experienced persistent annual growth, with more than 44,000 test takers in…

Peer-Peer Interaction in a Speaking Test: The Case of the "First Certificate in English" Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galaczi, Evelina D.

2008-01-01

This discourse-based study turns its attention to paired test-taker discourse in the First Certificate in English speaking test. Its primary aim is to focus on fundamental conversation management concepts, such as overall structural organisation, turn-taking, sequencing, and topic organisation found in the dyadic test-taker interaction in 30 pairs…

At the Interface between Language Testing and Second Language Acquisition: Language Ability and Context of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Lin

2014-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between latent components of academic English language ability and test takers' study-abroad and classroom learning experiences through a structural equation modeling approach in the context of TOEFL iBT® testing. Data from the TOEFL iBT public dataset were used. The results showed that test takers'…

Motivation and Test Anxiety in Test Performance across Three Testing Contexts: The CAEL, CET, and GEPT

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Liying; Klinger, Don; Fox, Janna; Doe, Christine; Jin, Yan; Wu, Jessica

2014-01-01

This study examined test-takers' motivation, test anxiety, and test performance across a range of social and educational contexts in three high-stakes language tests: the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment in Canada, the College English Test (CET) in the People's Republic of China, and the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT)…

Effects of Strength of Accent on an L2 Interactive Lecture Listening Comprehension Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ockey, Gary J.; Papageorgiou, Spiros; French, Robert

2016-01-01

This article reports on a study which aimed to determine the effect of strength of accent on listening comprehension of interactive lectures. Test takers (N = 21,726) listened to an interactive lecture given by one of nine speakers and responded to six comprehension items. The test taker responses were analyzed with the Rasch computer program…

Do Test Design and Uses Influence Test Preparation? Testing a Model of Washback with Structural Equation Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, Qin; Andrews, Stephen

2013-01-01

This study introduces Expectancy-value motivation theory to explain the paths of influences from perceptions of test design and uses to test preparation as a special case of washback on learning. Based on this theory, two conceptual models were proposed and tested via Structural Equation Modeling. Data collection involved over 870 test takers of…

Humanising Language Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamid, M. Obaidul; Hoang, Ngoc T. H.

2018-01-01

Test-takers' voices in relation to high-stakes language tests have received growing attention in recent years. While the perspectives of this stakeholder group can be utilised to improve test quality, test-taking experience, and test impact, we argue that this goal needs to be achieved by considering a fundamental shift in our conceptualisation of…

Being a Good Course-Taker Is Not Enough: A Theoretical Perspective on the Transition to Independent Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovitts, Barbara E.

2005-01-01

Students are typically admitted into doctoral programmes because they have been good course-takers. Yet, the PhD is awarded for doing independent research and making an "original contribution" to knowledge. Graduate faculty acknowledge that the transition to independent research is hard for many students, and that they cannot predict who will…

To Show or Not to Show: The Effects of Item Stems and Answer Options on Performance on a Multiple-Choice Listening Comprehension Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanagawa, Kozo; Green, Anthony

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the choice between three multiple-choice listening comprehension test formats results in any difference in listening comprehension test performance. The three formats entail (a) allowing test takers to preview both the question stem and answer options prior to listening; (b) allowing test takers to…

A Closer Look at Chinese EFL Learners' Test-Wiseness Strategies in Reading Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haiyan, Miao; Rilong, Liu

2016-01-01

This paper reports on an investigation into the relationship of test-takers' use of test-wiseness strategies to Chinese EFL learners' reading test performance. A test-wiseness questionnaire was administered immediately after the final achievement test to probe into how learners thought while completing the reading section of the test. It was found…

Test Anxiety Analysis of Chinese College Students in Computer-Based Spoken English Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanxia, Yang

2017-01-01

Test anxiety was a commonly known or assumed factor that could greatly influence performance of test takers. With the employment of designed questionnaires and computer-based spoken English test, this paper explored test anxiety manifestation of Chinese college students from both macro and micro aspects, and found out that the major anxiety in…

Usability of Interactive Item Types and Tools Introduced in the New GRE® Revised General Test. ETS GRE® Board Research Report. ETS GRE®-14-05. ETS Research Report. RR-14-28

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swiggett, Wanda D.; Kotloff, Laurie; Ezzo, Chelsea; Adler, Rachel; Oliveri, Maria Elena

2014-01-01

The computer-based "Graduate Record Examinations"® ("GRE"®) revised General Test includes interactive item types and testing environment tools (e.g., test navigation, on-screen calculator, and help). How well do test takers understand these innovations? If test takers do not understand the new item types, these innovations may…

True or False? Tests Stink!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romain, Trevor; Verdick, Elizabeth

This book is designed to help students become better test takers. It helps them feel more confident and less stressed before, during, and after the test. Section 1, "Tests? Blech!" discusses why it is necessary to test students. Section 2, "Test SOS," presents test-taking hints; top secret information about tests and student behavior during tests;…

Helping Students Select Appropriately Challenging Text: Application to a Test of Second Language Reading Ability. Research Report. ETS RR-17-33

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheehan, Kathleen M.

2017-01-01

A model-based approach for matching language learners to texts of appropriate difficulty is described. Results are communicated to test takers via a targeted reading range expressed on the reporting scale of an automated text complexity measurement tool (ATCMT). Test takers can use this feedback to select reading materials that are well matched to…

Validation through Understanding Test-Taking Strategies: An Illustration With the CELPIP-General Reading Pilot Test Using Structural Equation Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Amery D.; Stone, Jake E.

2016-01-01

This article explores an approach for test score validation that examines test takers' strategies for taking a reading comprehension test. The authors formulated three working hypotheses about score validity pertaining to three types of test-taking strategy (comprehending meaning, test management, and test-wiseness). These hypotheses were…

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Stakeholder Accounts of Testing Experience with a Computer-Administered Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Janna; Cheng, Liying

2015-01-01

In keeping with the trend to elicit multiple stakeholder responses to operational tests as part of test validation, this exploratory mixed methods study examines test-taker accounts of an Internet-based (i.e., computer-administered) test in the high-stakes context of proficiency testing for university admission. In 2013, as language testing…

Truth in Testing: Arguments Examined.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Daniel J.

1981-01-01

Costs and benefits of New York's Truth-in-Testing law are reviewed and related to constitutional issues and fairness to test-makers as well as test-takers. Besides matters of cost and test question availability, challenges to the legislation also involve issues of due process, equal protection, and infringement of existing copyright laws. (MSE)

Test Design and Speededness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linden, Wim J.

2011-01-01

A critical component of test speededness is the distribution of the test taker's total time on the test. A simple set of constraints on the item parameters in the lognormal model for response times is derived that can be used to control the distribution when assembling a new test form. As the constraints are linear in the item parameters, they can…

Group Differences in Test-Taking Behaviour: An Example from a High-Stakes Testing Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stenlund, Tova; Eklöf, Hanna; Lyrén, Per-Erik

2017-01-01

This study investigated whether different groups of test-takers vary in their reported test-taking behaviour in a high-stakes test situation. A between-group design (N = 1129) was used to examine whether high and low achievers, as well as females and males, differ in their use of test-taking strategies, and in level of reported test anxiety and…

The Mediating Effect of Listening Metacognitive Awareness between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Test Score: An Expectancy-Value Theory Approach.

PubMed

Xu, Jian

2017-01-01

The present study investigated test-taking motivation in L2 listening testing context by applying Expectancy-Value Theory as the framework. Specifically, this study was intended to examine the complex relationships among expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, listening metacognitive awareness, and listening test score using data from a large-scale and high-stakes language test among Chinese first-year undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating effect of listening metacognitive awareness on the relationship between expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score. According to the results, test takers' listening scores can be predicted by expectancy, interest, and listening anxiety significantly. The relationship between expectancy, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score was mediated by listening metacognitive awareness. The findings have implications for test takers to improve their test taking motivation and listening metacognitive awareness, as well as for L2 teachers to intervene in L2 listening classrooms.

Modeling Student Test-Taking Motivation in the Context of an Adaptive Achievement Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wise, Steven L.; Kingsbury, G. Gage

2016-01-01

This study examined the utility of response time-based analyses in understanding the behavior of unmotivated test takers. For the data from an adaptive achievement test, patterns of observed rapid-guessing behavior and item response accuracy were compared to the behavior expected under several types of models that have been proposed to represent…

Change in Test-Taking Motivation and Its Relationship to Test Performance in Low-Stakes Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penk, Christiane; Richter, Dirk

2017-01-01

Since the turn of the century, an increasing number of low-stakes assessments (i.e., assessments without direct consequences for the test-takers) are being used to evaluate the quality of educational systems. Internationally, research has shown that low-stakes test results can be biased due to students' low test-taking motivation and that…

Is Field Dependence/Independence a Source of Test Bias in Iranian EFL Majors' Cloze Test Performance?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alimorad, Zahra

2013-01-01

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

Aggressive regulator or passive price-taker: what role should HIPCs (health insurance purchasing cooperatives) play?

PubMed

Wicks, E K

1993-01-01

Despite extensive variations on the theme, managed competition continues to be the favored model of federal and state governments in crafting health reform. A critical element in managed competition is the establishment of health insurance purchasing cooperatives (HIPCs), which band together the collective buying power of individuals or employers to give them market "clout". Policymakers must decide whether they want a HIPC to be an aggressive regulator--using its power to force changes among health plans--or a passive price-taker that contracts with plans meeting key criteria.

Passionate scholarship 2001-2010: a vision for making academe safer for joyous risk-takers.

PubMed

Heinrich, Kathleen T

2010-01-01

What is passionate scholarship? According to students and graduates from a nursing doctoral program interviewed 10 years ago, passionate scholars must risk committing to a personally meaningful and socially relevant topic close to the heart. This insight spawned a string of exploratory inquiries and educational interventions in search of the "ideal conditions" that foster passionate scholarship. Updating the findings of that original study published in Advances in Nursing Science in 2001, this article describes a 3-year, faculty development initiative. Beyond increasing scholarly productivity, the findings suggest that turning faculty groups into communities of scholarly caring can make academic environments safer for passionate risk-takers.

The farmer, the hunter, and the census taker: three distinct views of animal behavior.

PubMed

Borrello, Mark E

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between evolutionary theory and ethology in the work of Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen and V.C. Wynne-Edwards, the farmer, hunter, and census taker of the title respectively. I am especially interested in the idea of the ethologists Lorenz and Tinbergen that animal behavior and human behavior were equally appropriated subjects of biological analysis. Their approach is contrasted with Wynne-Edwards's group selective account of the evolution of social behavior. Finally, I argue that Wynne-Edwards's dogged commitment to group selection theory helped create the theoretical space within which subsequent researchers could develop more careful analyses.

Setting Time Limits on Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linden, Wim J.

2011-01-01

It is shown how the time limit on a test can be set to control the probability of a test taker running out of time before completing it. The probability is derived from the item parameters in the lognormal model for response times. Examples of curves representing the probability of running out of time on a test with given parameters as a function…

Ongoing Issues in Test Fairness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Camilli, Gregory

2013-01-01

In the attempt to identify or prevent unfair tests, both quantitative analyses and logical evaluation are often used. For the most part, fairness evaluation is a pragmatic attempt at determining whether procedural or substantive due process has been accorded to either a group of test takers or an individual. In both the individual and comparative…

Predictive Control of Speededness in Adaptive Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linden, Wim J.

2009-01-01

An adaptive testing method is presented that controls the speededness of a test using predictions of the test takers' response times on the candidate items in the pool. Two different types of predictions are investigated: posterior predictions given the actual response times on the items already administered and posterior predictions that use the…

Do Standardized Tests Penalize Deep-Thinking, Creative, or Conscientious Students?: Some Personality Correlates of Graduate Record Examinations Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Donald E.; Kaufman, James C.

2004-01-01

The objective of the study reported here was to explore the relationship of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test scores to selected personality traits--conscientiousness, rationality, ingenuity, quickness, creativity, and depth. A sample of 342 GRE test takers completed short personality inventory scales for each trait. Analyses…

Tree-Based Global Model Tests for Polytomous Rasch Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Komboz, Basil; Strobl, Carolin; Zeileis, Achim

2018-01-01

Psychometric measurement models are only valid if measurement invariance holds between test takers of different groups. Global model tests, such as the well-established likelihood ratio (LR) test, are sensitive to violations of measurement invariance, such as differential item functioning and differential step functioning. However, these…

Individual differences in orexin 1 receptor modulation of motivation for the opioid remifentanil

PubMed Central

Porter-Stransky, Kirsten A.; Bentzley, Brandon S.; Aston-Jones, Gary

2015-01-01

Orexin-1 receptors (Ox1Rs) have been implicated in the motivation for drugs of abuse. Here, we utilized a within-session behavioral-economic threshold procedure to screen for individual differences in economic demand for the ultra-short acting opioid remifentanil and to test whether antagonism of Ox1Rs reduces remifentanil demand. The behavioral-economic procedure revealed robust individual differences in free consumption of remifentanil (Q0 parameter; hedonic set point). Rats with low baseline Q0 (low takers) displayed high demand elasticity (α parameter; reduced responding as drug price increased indicating low motivation for drug), whereas subjects with a higher Q0 (high takers) exhibit low demand elasticity (low α) by continuing to self-administer remifentanil despite increased cost (reflecting higher motivation for drug). In a punished responding paradigm utilizing footshock, subjects that were classified as high takers at baseline withstood twice as much shock as low takers to continue self-administering remifentanil. Interestingly, Ox1R antagonism with SB-334867 reduced Q0 and increased α in low takers but not in high takers. Similarly, the Ox1R antagonist attenuated cue-, but not drug-, induced reinstatement of remifentanil seeking in low takers, but had no significant effect on reinstatement of drug seeking in high takers. Together, these data reveal a novel role of orexins in demand for remifentanil: Ox1Rs modulate demand in low takers but not in individuals that exhibit addictive-like behaviors (high takers). Finally, the behavioral assays in this study can serve as a novel laboratory model for studying individual differences in opioid use disorders. PMID:26598295

Accountability Issues in Testing Academic Literacy: The Case of the Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rambiritch, Avasha

2015-01-01

Applied linguists should strive to ensure that the tests they design and use are not only fair and socially acceptable, but also have positive effects--this, in light of the fact that tests can sometimes have far-reaching and often detrimental effects on test-takers. What this paper will attempt to do, is highlight how this concern for responsible…

Test Review: Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Margaret E.

2010-01-01

This article presents a review of the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment, a high stakes standardized test of the English language. It is a topic-based test that integrates listening, reading, writing and speaking. The test is designed to describe the level of English language proficiency of test takers planning to study at…

The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2016: National

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2016

2016-01-01

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 64% of students in the 2016 US graduating class took the ACT test, up from 59% in 2015 and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth of the…

The Secrets of Taking Any Test. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Judith N.

This book is designed to help the adult learner overcome test anxiety and become an effective test taker. A survey to determine what the reader knows about test formats is followed by facts on many types of tests, help with real-world problems in test taking, reviews of writing skills for essay tests, and practice test questions. Some resources,…

Time and Performance on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frisby, Craig L.; Traffanstedt, Bobby K.

2003-01-01

Investigates the relationship between total scores on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the time taken to complete it. Finds that slower test takers obtained significantly higher scores. Discusses implications of these findings for college instruction. (SG)

Optimal Bayesian Adaptive Design for Test-Item Calibration.

PubMed

van der Linden, Wim J; Ren, Hao

2015-06-01

An optimal adaptive design for test-item calibration based on Bayesian optimality criteria is presented. The design adapts the choice of field-test items to the examinees taking an operational adaptive test using both the information in the posterior distributions of their ability parameters and the current posterior distributions of the field-test parameters. Different criteria of optimality based on the two types of posterior distributions are possible. The design can be implemented using an MCMC scheme with alternating stages of sampling from the posterior distributions of the test takers' ability parameters and the parameters of the field-test items while reusing samples from earlier posterior distributions of the other parameters. Results from a simulation study demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed MCMC implementation for operational item calibration. A comparison of performances for different optimality criteria showed faster calibration of substantial numbers of items for the criterion of D-optimality relative to A-optimality, a special case of c-optimality, and random assignment of items to the test takers.

Does Test Preparation Work? Implications for Score Validity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, Qin

2013-01-01

This article reports an empirical study that examined the pattern of test preparation for College English Test Band 4 (CET4) and the differential effects of test preparation practices on its scores, thereby drawing implications for CET4 score validity. Data collection involved 1,003 test takers of CET4. A pretest was administered at the beginning…

A Critical Review of the IELTS Writing Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uysal, Hacer Hande

2010-01-01

Administered at local centres in 120 countries throughout the world, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is one of the most widely used large-scale ESL tests that also offers a direct writing test component. Because of its popularity and its use for making critical decisions about test takers, it is crucial to draw attention to…

The Impact of Gender in Oral Proficiency Testing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Loughlin, Kieran

2002-01-01

Discusses the role of gender in speaking tests and suggests that in oral interviews it is possible that both interviewing and rating may be highly gendered processes. Audiotaped female and male test-takers who undertook practice IELTS interviews, one with a female interviewer and once with a male interviewer. Results from discourse and test score…

Examining the Feasibility and Effect of Transitioning GED Tests to Computer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, Jennifer; Patterson, Margaret Becker; Bozman, Martha; Katz, Michael

2010-01-01

This study examined the feasibility of administering GED Tests using a computer based testing system with embedded accessibility tools and the impact on test scores and test-taker experience when GED Tests are transitioned from paper to computer. Nineteen test centers across five states successfully installed the computer based testing program,…

Put Thinking to the Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conrad, Lori L.; Matthews, Missy; Zimmerman, Cheryl; Allen, Patrick A.

2008-01-01

Just as comprehension strategies have helped millions of students learn to read like proficient readers, they can also help students think like effective test-takers. The authors show how students can use background knowledge, mental images, synthesizing, monitoring, inferring, questioning, and determining of importance to understand the genre of…

Selfie-Takers Prefer Left Cheeks: Converging Evidence from the (Extended) selfiecity Database

PubMed Central

Manovich, Lev; Ferrari, Vera; Bruno, Nicola

2017-01-01

According to previous reports, selfie takers in widely different cultural contexts prefer poses showing the left cheek more than the right cheek. This posing bias may be interpreted as evidence for a right-hemispheric specialization for the expression of facial emotions. However, earlier studies analyzed selfie poses as categorized by human raters, which raises methodological issues in relation to the distinction between frontal and three-quarter poses. Here, we provide converging evidence by analyzing the (extended) selfiecity database which includes automatic assessments of head rotation and of emotional expression. We confirm a culture- and sex-independent left-cheek bias and report stronger expression of negative emotions in selfies showing the left cheek. These results are generally consistent with a psychobiological account of a left cheek bias in self-portraits but reveal possible unexpected facts concerning the relation between side bias and lateralization of emotional expression. PMID:28928683

Effects of Test Item Disclosure on Medical Licensing Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Eunbae B.; Lee, Myung Ae; Park, Yoon Soo

2018-01-01

In 2012, the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board of Korea decided to publicly disclose all test items and answers to satisfy the test takers' right to know and enhance the transparency of tests administered by the government. This study investigated the effects of item disclosure on the medical licensing examination (MLE),…

34 CFR 668.150 - Agreement between the Secretary and a test publisher.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... test, provide the test administrator with software that will: (i) Immediately generate a score report...; and (iii) Prohibit any changes in test taker responses or test scores. (6) Promptly send to the... (9) Upon request, give the Secretary, a guaranty agency, or an accrediting agency access to test...

Foundations of Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntire, Sandra A.; Miller, Leslie A.

2006-01-01

The second edition of "Foundations of Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach" is a text for undergraduate students new to the field of psychological testing. Using a conversational format, the authors aim to prepare students to be informed consumers as test users or test takers. Features new to the second edition include: (1) New Content; (2)…

Samejima Items in Multiple-Choice Tests: Identification and Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahman, Nazia

2013-01-01

Samejima hypothesized that non-monotonically increasing item response functions (IRFs) of ability might occur for multiple-choice items (referred to here as "Samejima items") if low ability test takers with some, though incomplete, knowledge or skill are drawn to a particularly attractive distractor, while very low ability test takers…

The Cognitive Processing of Candidates during Reading Tests: Evidence from Eye-Tracking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bax, Stephen

2013-01-01

The research described in this article investigates test takers' cognitive processing while completing onscreen IELTS (International English Language Testing System) reading test items. The research aims, among other things, to contribute to our ability to evaluate the cognitive validity of reading test items (Glaser, 1991; Field, in press). The…

Evaluating the Stability of Test Score Means for the "TOEIC"® Speaking and Writing Tests. Research Report. ETS RR-17-50

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qu, Yanxuan; Huo, Yan; Chan, Eric; Shotts, Matthew

2017-01-01

For educational tests, it is critical to maintain consistency of score scales and to understand the sources of variation in score means over time. This practice helps to ensure that interpretations about test takers' abilities are comparable from one administration (or one form) to another. This study examines the consistency of reported scores…

Item Pocket Method to Allow Response Review and Change in Computerized Adaptive Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Kyung T.

2013-01-01

Most computerized adaptive testing (CAT) programs do not allow test takers to review and change their responses because it could seriously deteriorate the efficiency of measurement and make tests vulnerable to manipulative test-taking strategies. Several modified testing methods have been developed that provide restricted review options while…

Improving Test-Taking Performance of Secondary At-Risk Youth and Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, Tachelle; Eaton, India

2014-01-01

Preparing at-risk youth and students with mild disabilities for state and district tests is important for improving their test performance, and basic instruction in test preparation can significantly improve student test performance. The article defines noncognitive variables that adversely affect test-taker performance. The article also describes…

Does Field Independence Relate to Performance on Communicative Language Tests?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmani-Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali

2006-01-01

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

Teaching Test-Taking Skills: Helping Students Show What They Know.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scruggs, Thomas E.; Mastropieri, Margo A.

This book is designed to help students become better test takers. It is intended for teachers, but would be helpful to parents who think that their children's test scores do not completely represent their knowledge or abilities. Test taking skills are those skills that, when used effectively, contribute to a "test-wise" individual who can use…

Item Response Theory Models for Performance Decline during Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Kuan-Yu; Wang, Wen-Chung

2014-01-01

Sometimes, test-takers may not be able to attempt all items to the best of their ability (with full effort) due to personal factors (e.g., low motivation) or testing conditions (e.g., time limit), resulting in poor performances on certain items, especially those located toward the end of a test. Standard item response theory (IRT) models fail to…

Unintended Consequences or Testing the Integrity of Teachers and Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimmel, Ernest W.

Large-scale testing programs are generally based on the assumptions that the test-takers experience standard conditions for taking the test and that everyone will do his or her own work without having prior knowledge of specific questions. These assumptions are not necessarily true. The ways students and educators use to get around standardizing…

Use of Video and Audio Texts in EFL Listening Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basal, Ahmet; Gülözer, Kaine; Demir, Ibrahim

2015-01-01

The study aims to discover whether audio or video modality in a listening test is more beneficial to test takers. In this study, the posttest-only control group design was utilized and quantitative data were collected in order to measure participant performances concerning two types of modality (audio or video) in a listening test. The…

Topical Knowledge in L2 Speaking Assessment: Comparing Independent and Integrated Speaking Test Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Heng-Tsung Danny; Hung, Shao-Ting Alan; Plakans, Lia

2018-01-01

Integrated speaking test tasks (integrated tasks) provide reading and/or listening input to serve as the basis for test-takers to formulate their oral responses. This study examined the influence of topical knowledge on integrated speaking test performance and compared independent speaking test performance and integrated speaking test performance…

The Quest for Fairness in Language Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karami, Hossein

2013-01-01

The search for fairness in language testing is distinct from other areas of educational measurement as the object of measurement, that is, language, is part of the identity of the test takers. So, a host of issues enter the scene when one starts to reflect on how to assess people's language abilities. As the quest for fairness in language testing…

Modeling the College Application Decision Process in a Land-Grant Institution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DesJardins, Stephen L.; And Others

This study used a logistic probability model to investigate the effects of variables relating student characteristics and institutional factors on the decision to apply to a large land-grant research university. The study used the entire data set from American College Testing (ACT) program test-takers in the fall of 1995 and institutional data on…

An Evaluation of Test Speededness in an Assessment for Third-Grade Gifted Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hailey, Emily; Callahan, Carolyn M.; Azano, Amy; Moon, Tonya R.

2012-01-01

Reliability and validity are integral concepts in assessment design. Test speededness, the influence of time constraints on test taker performance, is often an overlooked threat to reliability and validity, especially in classroom-based testing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of test speededness of classroom-based assessments…

Development and Validation of a Computer Adaptive EFL Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Lianzhen; Min, Shangchao

2017-01-01

The first aim of this study was to develop a computer adaptive EFL test (CALT) that assesses test takers' listening and reading proficiency in English with dichotomous items and polytomous testlets. We reported in detail on the development of the CALT, including item banking, determination of suitable item response theory (IRT) models for item…

The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2017: National

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2017

2017-01-01

This report looks at the progress of the 2017 ACT®-tested graduating class relative to college and career readiness. This year's report shows that 60% of students in the 2017 US graduating class took the ACT test, up from 54% in 2013. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth of the data pool,…

34 CFR 668.150 - Agreement between the Secretary and a test publisher or a State.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... computer-based test is used, provide the test administrator with software that will— (i) Immediately... any changes in test taker responses or test scores; (11) Promptly send to the student and the... during the period of test approval; (14) Upon request, give the Secretary, a State agency, an accrediting...

Does Field Independence Relate to Performance on Communicative Language Tests? Research Papers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmani-Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali

2006-01-01

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

A Comment on Early Student Blunders on Computer-Based Adaptive Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Bert F.

2011-01-01

This article refutes a recent claim that computer-based tests produce biased scores for very proficient test takers who make mistakes on one or two initial items and that the "bias" can be reduced by using a four-parameter IRT model. Because the same effect occurs with pattern scores on nonadaptive tests, the effect results from IRT scoring, not…

The HISD Class of 1991: American College Testing Program (ACT).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ronacher, Karl; And Others

This report analyzes the performance of students in the graduating class of 1991 of the Houston (Texas) Independent School District (HISD) who took the American College Testing Program (ACT) test. Eleven percent of the class of 1991, 796 students, graduated with ACT scores. Houston White, Black, and Mexican American students obtained higher…

Transitioning the GED[R] Mathematics Test to Computer with and without Accommodations: A Pilot Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Margaret Becker; Higgins, Jennifer; Bozman, Martha; Katz, Michael

2011-01-01

We conducted a pilot study to see how the GED Mathematics Test could be administered on computer with embedded accessibility tools. We examined test scores and test-taker experience. Nineteen GED test centers across five states and 216 randomly assigned GED Tests candidates participated in the project. GED candidates completed two GED mathematics…

78 FR 66700 - Toxic Substances Control Act Chemical Testing; Receipt of Test Data

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-06

... Chemical Testing; Receipt of Test Data AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's receipt of test data on 21 chemicals. These data were submitted pursuant to 3 test rules issued by EPA under section 4 of the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). The...

On the Issue of Item Selection in Computerized Adaptive Testing with Response Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veldkamp, Bernard P.

2016-01-01

Many standardized tests are now administered via computer rather than paper-and-pencil format. The computer-based delivery mode brings with it certain advantages. One advantage is the ability to adapt the difficulty level of the test to the ability level of the test taker in what has been termed computerized adaptive testing (CAT). A second…

Modeling Local Item Dependence Due to Common Test Format with a Multidimensional Rasch Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baghaei, Purya; Aryadoust, Vahid

2015-01-01

Research shows that test method can exert a significant impact on test takers' performance and thereby contaminate test scores. We argue that common test method can exert the same effect as common stimuli and violate the conditional independence assumption of item response theory models because, in general, subsets of items which have a shared…

Clients' Preferences for Small Groups vs. Individual Testing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Backman, Margaret E.; And Others

Test takers' preferences for group versus individual administration of the Micro-TOWER System of Vocational Evaluation are reported. The system was administered to 211 clients at a vocational rehabilitation center, and consisted of work samples measuring the following job skills: record checking, filing, lamp assembly, message-taking, zip coding,…

Does Mailing a Post Card to Students Improve Response Rates? Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Raeal; Earnhart, Benjamin

2017-01-01

A random sample of students who took the ACT test in either April or June of 2016 were invited to participate in an online survey via an email invitation (N = 35,0471). To study whether mailing post card invitations to students improves response rates, a portion of these test-takers were randomly assigned to be sent a post card. In addition,…

Investigating the Construct Measured by Banked Gap-Fill Items: Evidence from Eye-Tracking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCray, Gareth; Brunfaut, Tineke

2018-01-01

This study investigates test-takers' processing while completing banked gap-fill tasks, designed to test reading proficiency, in order to test theoretically based expectations about the variation in cognitive processes of test-takers across levels of performance. Twenty-eight test-takers' eye traces on 24 banked gap-fill items (on six tasks) were…

The Effect of "Read-Aloud" as a Test Accommodation for Students with Visual Impairments in South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Jung Sook

2012-01-01

Arguing the issue of fairness and the additional advantage for test takers with visual impairments, some professionals have expressed negative attitudes toward test accommodation. However, researchers have found that the validity of test accommodations increases when the test scores of students who need a particular accommodation increases, while…

Developing Test Score Reports that Work: The Process and Best Practices for Effective Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zenisky, April L.; Hambleton, Ronald K.

2012-01-01

Test scores matter these days. Test-takers want to understand how they performed, and test score reports, particularly those for individual examinees, are the vehicles by which most people get the bulk of this information. Historically, score reports have not always met the examinees' information or usability needs, but this is clearly changing…

Why Not Non-Native Varieties of English as Listening Comprehension Test Input?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abeywickrama, Priyanvada

2013-01-01

The existence of different varieties of English in target language use (TLU) domains calls into question the usefulness of listening comprehension tests whose input is limited only to a native speaker variety. This study investigated the impact of non-native varieties or accented English speech on test takers from three different English use…

Appropriateness of the TOEIC[R] Bridge Test for Students in Three Countries of South America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinharay, Sandip; Powers, Donald E.; Feng, Ying; Saldivia, Luis; Giunta, Anthony; Simpson, Annabelle; Weng, Vincent

2009-01-01

In order to facilitate the interpretation of test scores from the TOEIC[R] "Bridge" as a measure of English language proficiency, one form of the test was administered to more than 6000 test takers in three South American countries--Colombia, Chile and Ecuador. The appropriateness of the TOEIC "Bridge" test as a measure of…

The Teacher as Examiner of L2 Oral Tests: A Challenge to Standardization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sundqvist, Pia; Wikström, Peter; Sandlund, Erica; Nyroos, Lina

2018-01-01

The present paper looks at the issue of standardization in L2 oral testing. Whereas external examiners are frequently used globally, some countries opt for test-takers' own teachers as examiners instead. In the present study, Sweden is used as a case in point, with a focus on the mandatory, high-stakes, summative, ninth-grade national test in…

An Examination of Reliability and Validity Claims of a Foreign Language Proficiency Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mircea-Pines, Walter J.

2009-01-01

This dissertation study examined the reliability and validity claims of a modified version of the Spanish Modern Language Association Foreign Language Proficiency Test for Teachers and Advanced Students administered at George Mason University (GMU). The study used the 1999 computerized GMU version that was administered to 277 test-takers via…

Demographically Adjusted Groups for Equating Test Scores. Research Report. ETS RR-14-30

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingston, Samuel A.

2014-01-01

In this study, I investigated 2 procedures intended to create test-taker groups of equal ability by poststratifying on a composite variable created from demographic information. In one procedure, the stratifying variable was the composite variable that best predicted the test score. In the other procedure, the stratifying variable was the…

An Investigation of the Gender Differential Performance on a High-Stakes Language Proficiency Test in Iran

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karami, Hossein

2013-01-01

There has been a growing consensus among the educational measurement experts and psychometricians that test taker characteristics may unduly affect the performance on tests. This may lead to construct-irrelevant variance in the scores and thus render the test biased. Hence, it is incumbent on test developers and users alike to provide evidence…

Measuring English Language Workplace Proficiency across Subgroups: Using CFA Models to Validate Test Score Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoo, Hanwook; Manna, Venessa F.

2017-01-01

This study assessed the factor structure of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC®) Listening and Reading test, and its invariance across subgroups of test-takers. The subgroups were defined by (a) gender, (b) age, (c) employment status, (d) time spent studying English, and (e) having lived in a country where English is the…

Test Review: Woodcock, R. W., Schrank, F. A., Mather, N., & McGrew, K. S. 2007). "Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement, Form C/Brief Battery." Rolling Meadows, IL: Riverside

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grenwelge, Cheryl H.

2009-01-01

The Woodcock Johnson III Brief Assessment is a "maximum performance test" (Reynolds, Livingston, Willson, 2006) that is designed to assess the upper levels of knowledge and skills of the test taker using both power and speed to obtain a large amount of information in a short period of time. The Brief Assessment also provides an adequate…

Exploring Proficiency-Based vs. Performance-Based Items with Elicited Imitation Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Troy L.; Bown, Jennifer; Burdis, Jacob

2015-01-01

This study investigates the effect of proficiency- vs. performance-based elicited imitation (EI) assessment. EI requires test-takers to repeat sentences in the target language. The accuracy at which test-takers are able to repeat sentences highly correlates with test-takers' language proficiency. However, in EI, the factors that render an item…

An Analysis of the Performance and Accommodations for Students Who Are Non-Verbal Taking Pennsylvania's Statewide Alternate Assessment (PASA)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harayama, Nancy Eiko

2013-01-01

The No Child Left Behind Act mandated the development of statewide alternate assessments to measure the academic achievement of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The valid assessment of all test takers is critical due to its high-stakes nature and the use of its results to inform instruction. Given the heterogeneity of the…

Intelligence Tests and the Immigration Act of 1924.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyderman, Mark; Herrnstein, R. J.

1983-01-01

An examination of the historical record fails to uncover any support for the claim that the racially biased Immigration Act of 1924 was passed with the help of the intelligence testing community. (GC)

Application of a Mixed Consequential Ethical Model to a Problem Regarding Test Standards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Busch, John Christian

The work of the ethicist Charles Curran and the problem-solving strategy of the mixed consequentialist ethical model are applied to a traditional social science measurement problem--that of how to adjust a recommended standard in order to be fair to the test-taker and society. The focus is on criterion-referenced teacher certification tests.…

Effects of Extended Time on the SAT® I: Reasoning Test Score Growth for Students with Learning Disabilities. Research Report No. 1998-7

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Camara, Wayne J.; Copeland, Tina; Rothschild, Brian

2005-01-01

Tests administered with accommodations to persons with disabilities have been considered nonequivalent to tests administered under standardized conditions to nondisabled test takers. This study examined the score change patterns for learning disabled students completing extended-time administrations of the SAT I: Reasoning Test in comparison to…

Does the Anticipation of a Merit Grade Motivate Vocational Test-Takers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Martin

2007-01-01

This study explores whether the anticipation of a graded (merit, pass, fail) test outcome rather than a binary (pass, fail) form of feedback influenced the motivation of learners taking a vocationally related test. Ninety-four students currently taking a vocationally related qualification were divided into control and experimental groups. Each…

Quality, Tuition, and Applications to In-State Public Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDuff, DeForest

2007-01-01

This paper investigates the main determinants of applying to in-state public colleges and universities. I use data from over 500,000 SAT and ACT test takers to examine the roles of college quality and tuition in the college selection decision. I take advantage of the interstate variation in quality and tuition at the public flagship universities…

Identifying with More than One Ethnic and/or Racial Group: Another Examination of the Impact on Differential Item Functioning Statistics. Statistical Report 2016-1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rawls, Anita; Zhang, Xiuyuan; Hendrickson, Amy

2016-01-01

The classification of test-takers into ethnic and racial groups ensures individuals and groups, identified in Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, are protected from adverse treatment (Camilli, 2006). The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) suggests that…

Facilitating the Interpretation of English Language Proficiency Scores: Combining Scale Anchoring and Test Score Mapping Methodologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Donald; Schedl, Mary; Papageorgiou, Spiros

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop, for the benefit of both test takers and test score users, enhanced "TOEFL ITP"® test score reports that go beyond the simple numerical scores that are currently reported. To do so, we applied traditional scale anchoring (proficiency scaling) to item difficulty data in order to develop performance…

Test-Taking Strategies in L2 Assessment: The Test of English for International Communication Speaking Test.

PubMed

Huang, Heng-Tsung Danny

2016-08-01

This research explored the test-taking strategies associated with the Test of English for International Communication Speaking Test (TOEIC-S) and their relationship with test performance. Capitalizing on two sets of TOEIC-S and a custom-made strategy inventory, the researcher collected data from a total of 215 Taiwanese English learners consisting of 84 males and 131 females with an average age of 20.1 years (SD = 2.6). Quantitative data analysis gave rise to three major findings. First, TOEIC-S test-taking strategy use constituted a multi-faceted construct that involved multiple types of strategic behaviors. Second, these strategic behaviors matched those allowing test-takers to communicate both in real life and in the workplace. Third, communication strategy use and cognitive strategy use both contributed significantly to TOEIC-S performance. © The Author(s) 2016.

A Plea for Process in Personality Prevarication

PubMed Central

Kuncel, Nathan R.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Kiger, Tom

2011-01-01

We make a series recommendations for focusing research on personality test faking. Overall we suggest that a focus on the response process test takers go through will accelerate our understanding of faking behavior. We argue that the decision making process for faking must be simple and dependent on a modest set of decision rules or heuristics. The set of heuristics used by any given test taker will, in turn, be the result of test taker goals and situational press. By focusing in on what the test taker is doing we will avoid adopting the wrong frame of reference and, hopefully, make ever more rapid progress. PMID:21966260

Estimating Conditional Distributions of Scores on an Alternate Form of a Test. Research Report. ETS RR-15-18

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingston, Samuel A.; Chen, Haiwen H.

2015-01-01

Quantitative information about test score reliability can be presented in terms of the distribution of equated scores on an alternate form of the test for test takers with a given score on the form taken. In this paper, we describe a procedure for estimating that distribution, for any specified score on the test form taken, by estimating the joint…

A Comparison of Hispanic and White Non-Hispanic Students' Omit Patterns on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, Charlene; Schmitt, Alicia P.

Standardization methodology was used to analyze omitted responses of Hispanic examinees on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Study or focal groups were 2,956 Mexican-Americans, 3,230 Puerto Ricans, and 278,009 White test-takers. Results indicate that both Mexican-Americans and Puerto Rican students omitted fewer items than White students of comparable…

Skilled but Unaware of It: CAT Undermines a Test Taker's Metacognitive Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortner, Tuulia M.; Weisskopf, Eva; Gerstenberg, Friederike X. R.

2013-01-01

We investigated students' metacognitive experiences with regard to feelings of difficulty (FD), feelings of satisfaction (FS), and estimate of effort (EE), employing either computerized adaptive testing (CAT) or computerized fixed item testing (FIT). In an experimental approach, 174 students in grades 10 to 13 were tested either with a CAT or a…

Interrogating the Construct of Aviation English: Feedback from Test Takers in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Hyejeong; Elder, Catherine

2015-01-01

This paper explores the underlying construct of both the English proficiency test for pilot and air traffic controller radiotelephony communication developed and administered in Korea and the ICAO language proficiency testing policy on which the test in Korea is based. It does so by canvassing the opinions of Korean airline pilots and air traffic…

Exploring the Effect of Teaching Test-Taking Strategies on Intermediate Level Learners on Reading Section of IELTS; Learners' Attitude in Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khoshsima, Hooshang; Saed, Amin; Mousaei, Fatemeh

2018-01-01

Language proficiency tests have become common instruments to judge people based on their performance. Thus, the scores on language proficiency tests, such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), play a crucial role in the test-takers' lives. Because of increasing demands on…

A Psychometric Measurement Model for Adult English Language Learners: Pearson Test of English Academic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pae, Hye K.

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to apply Rasch modeling to an examination of the psychometric properties of the "Pearson Test of English Academic" (PTE Academic). Analyzed were 140 test-takers' scores derived from the PTE Academic database. The mean age of the participants was 26.45 (SD = 5.82), ranging from 17 to 46. Conformity of the participants'…

ACT Test Preparation Course and Its Impact on Students' College- and Career-Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrott, Timothy Nolan

2012-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of an ACT intervention course developed for high school juniors at Anderson County High School during the 2011-2012 school year. This study compared the ACT composite test scores of the treatment group to the ACT composite test scores of the control group by using their PLAN scores as a baseline, to determine…

A Bayesian Method for the Detection of Item Preknowledge in CAT. Law School Admission Council Computerized Testing Report. LSAC Research Report Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLeod, Lori D.; Lewis, Charles; Thissen, David.

With the increased use of computerized adaptive testing, which allows for continuous testing, new concerns about test security have evolved, one being the assurance that items in an item pool are safeguarded from theft. In this paper, the risk of score inflation and procedures to detect test takers using item preknowledge are explored. When test…

75 FR 26738 - Sunshine Act Meeting Notice

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-12

... Considered: Agenda: (1) Consideration of the trading of futures and binary options based on motion picture... revenues collared futures and binary option contracts, and the Cantor Exchange (``Cantor'') The Expendables... related to MDEX's Takers opening weekend motion picture revenues collared futures and binary option...

The Relationship between Lexical Frequency Profiling Measures and Rater Judgements of Spoken and Written General English Language Proficiency on the CELPIP-General Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglas, Scott Roy

2015-01-01

Independent confirmation that vocabulary in use unfolds across levels of performance as expected can contribute to a more complete understanding of validity in standardized English language tests. This study examined the relationship between Lexical Frequency Profiling (LFP) measures and rater judgements of test-takers' overall levels of…

Establishing the Validity of TOEIC Bridge™ Test Scores for Students in Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador. Research Report. ETS RR-08-58

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinharay, Sandip; Feng, Ying; Saldivia, Luis; Powers, Donald E.; Ginuta, Anthony; Simpson, Annabelle; Weng, Vincent

2008-01-01

The validity of TOEIC Bridge™ scores as a measure of English language skill was examined from the standpoint of a unified concept of test validity. In this study, more than 6,000 test takers in 3 Latin American countries (Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador) took 1 form of the TOEIC Bridge test, and their scores were compared to additional information…

Monitoring Score Change Patterns to Support "TOEIC"® Listening and Reading Test Quality. Research Report. ETS RR-17-54

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Youhua; Low, Albert

2017-01-01

In most large-scale programs of tests that aid in making high-stakes decisions, such as the "TOEIC"® family of products and service, it is not unusual for a significant portion of test takers to retake the test at multiple times.The study reported here used multilevel growth modeling to explore the score change patterns of nearly 20,000…

Gaze Behavior in a Natural Environment with a Task-Relevant Distractor: How the Presence of a Goalkeeper Distracts the Penalty Taker

PubMed Central

Kurz, Johannes; Hegele, Mathias; Munzert, Jörn

2018-01-01

Gaze behavior in natural scenes has been shown to be influenced not only by top–down factors such as task demands and action goals but also by bottom–up factors such as stimulus salience and scene context. Whereas gaze behavior in the context of static pictures emphasizes spatial accuracy, gazing in natural scenes seems to rely more on where to direct the gaze involving both anticipative components and an evaluation of ongoing actions. Not much is known about gaze behavior in far-aiming tasks in which multiple task-relevant targets and distractors compete for the allocation of visual attention via gaze. In the present study, we examined gaze behavior in the far-aiming task of taking a soccer penalty. This task contains a proximal target, the ball; a distal target, an empty location within the goal; and a salient distractor, the goalkeeper. Our aim was to investigate where participants direct their gaze in a natural environment with multiple potential fixation targets that differ in task relevance and salience. Results showed that the early phase of the run-up seems to be driven by both the salience of the stimulus setting and the need to perform a spatial calibration of the environment. The late run-up, in contrast, seems to be controlled by attentional demands of the task with penalty takers having habitualized a visual routine that is not disrupted by external influences (e.g., the goalkeeper). In addition, when trying to shoot a ball as accurately as possible, penalty takers directed their gaze toward the ball in order to achieve optimal foot-ball contact. These results indicate that whether gaze is driven by salience of the stimulus setting or by attentional demands depends on the phase of the actual task. PMID:29434560

Test Candidates' Attitudes and Their Relationship to Demographic and Experiential Variables: The Case of Overseas Trained Teachers in NSW, Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Jill C.; Riazi, A. Mehdi; Cross, Judith L.

2012-01-01

One measure of the impact of a high-stakes test is the attitudes that test takers hold towards it. It has been suggested that positive attitudes produce beneficial effects while real or anticipated negative experiences can result in the development of attitudes that erode confidence and potentially impact negatively on performance. This study…

Hypothesis Testing as an Act of Rationality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nearing, Grey

2017-04-01

Statistical hypothesis testing is ad hoc in two ways. First, setting probabilistic rejection criteria is, as Neyman (1957) put it, an act of will rather than an act of rationality. Second, physical theories like conservation laws do not inherently admit probabilistic predictions, and so we must use what are called epistemic bridge principles to connect model predictions with the actual methods of hypothesis testing. In practice, these bridge principles are likelihood functions, error functions, or performance metrics. I propose that the reason we are faced with these problems is because we have historically failed to account for a fundamental component of basic logic - namely the portion of logic that explains how epistemic states evolve in the presence of empirical data. This component of Cox' (1946) calculitic logic is called information theory (Knuth, 2005), and adding information theory our hypothetico-deductive account of science yields straightforward solutions to both of the above problems. This also yields a straightforward method for dealing with Popper's (1963) problem of verisimilitude by facilitating a quantitative approach to measuring process isomorphism. In practice, this involves data assimilation. Finally, information theory allows us to reliably bound measures of epistemic uncertainty, thereby avoiding the problem of Bayesian incoherency under misspecified priors (Grünwald, 2006). I therefore propose solutions to four of the fundamental problems inherent in both hypothetico-deductive and/or Bayesian hypothesis testing. - Neyman (1957) Inductive Behavior as a Basic Concept of Philosophy of Science. - Cox (1946) Probability, Frequency and Reasonable Expectation. - Knuth (2005) Lattice Duality: The Origin of Probability and Entropy. - Grünwald (2006). Bayesian Inconsistency under Misspecification. - Popper (1963) Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge.

Social Desirability Bias Against Admitting Anger: Bias in the Test-Taker or Bias in the Test?

PubMed

Fernandez, Ephrem; Woldgabreal, Yilma; Guharajan, Deepan; Day, Andrew; Kiageri, Vasiliki; Ramtahal, Nirvana

2018-05-09

The veracity of self-report is often questioned, especially in anger, which is particularly susceptible to social desirability bias (SDB). However, could tests of SDB be themselves susceptible to bias? This study aimed to replicate the inverse correlation between a common test of SDB and a test of anger, to deconstruct this relationship according to anger-related versus non-anger-related items, and to reevaluate factor structure and reliability of the SDB test. More than 200 students were administered the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Short Version [M-C1(10)] and the Anger Parameters Scale (APS). Results confirmed that anger and SDB scores were significantly and inversely correlated. This intercorrelation became nonsignificant when the 4 anger-related items were omitted from the M-C1(10). Confirmatory factor analyses showed excellent fit for a model comprising anger items of the M-C1(10) but not for models of the entire instrument or nonanger items. The first model also attained high internal consistency. Thus, the significant negative correlation between anger and SDB is attributable to 4 M-C1(10) anger items, for which low ratings are automatically scored as high SDB; this stems from a tenuous assumption that low anger reports are invariably biased. The SDB test risks false positives of faking good and should be used with caution.

The validity of ACT-PEP test scores for predicting academic performance of registered nurses in BSN programs.

PubMed

Yang, J C; Noble, J

1990-01-01

This study investigated the validity of three American College Testing-Proficiency Examination Program (ACT-PEP) tests (Maternal and Child Nursing, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, Adult Nursing) for predicting the academic performance of registered nurses (RNs) enrolled in bachelor's degree BSN programs nationwide. This study also examined RN students' performance on the ACT-PEP tests by their demographic characteristics: student's age, sex, race, student status (full- or part-time), and employment status (full- or part-time). The total sample for the three tests comprised 2,600 students from eight institutions nationwide. The median correlation coefficients between the three ACT-PEP tests and the semester grade point averages ranged from .36 to .56. Median correlation coefficients increased over time, supporting the stability of ACT-PEP test scores for predicting academic performance over time. The relative importance of selected independent variables for predicting academic performance was also examined; the most important variable for predicting academic performance was typically the ACT-PEP test score. Across the institutions, student demographic characteristics did not contribute significantly to explaining academic performance, over and above ACT-PEP scores.

ACT Average Composite by State: 2000 ACT-Tested Graduates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Coll. Testing Program, Iowa City, IA.

This table contains average composite scores by state for high school graduates who took the ACT Assessment in 2000. For each state the percentage of graduates taking the ACT Assessment and the average composite score are given, with the same information for those who completed the recommended core curriculum and those who did not, as well as for…

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Test act system validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

The primary objective of the Test Active Control Technology (ACT) System laboratory tests was to verify and validate the system concept, hardware, and software. The initial lab tests were open loop hardware tests of the Test ACT System as designed and built. During the course of the testing, minor problems were uncovered and corrected. Major software tests were run. The initial software testing was also open loop. These tests examined pitch control laws, wing load alleviation, signal selection/fault detection (SSFD), and output management. The Test ACT System was modified to interface with the direct drive valve (DDV) modules. The initial testing identified problem areas with DDV nonlinearities, valve friction induced limit cycling, DDV control loop instability, and channel command mismatch. The other DDV issue investigated was the ability to detect and isolate failures. Some simple schemes for failure detection were tested but were not completely satisfactory. The Test ACT System architecture continues to appear promising for ACT/FBW applications in systems that must be immune to worst case generic digital faults, and be able to tolerate two sequential nongeneric faults with no reduction in performance. The challenge in such an implementation would be to keep the analog element sufficiently simple to achieve the necessary reliability.

L2 Learners' Engagement with High Stakes Listening Tests: Does Technology Have a Beneficial Role to Play?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

East, Martin; King, Chris

2012-01-01

In the listening component of the IELTS examination candidates hear the input once, delivered at "normal" speed. This format for listening can be problematic for test takers who often perceive normal speed input to be too fast for effective comprehension. The study reported here investigated whether using computer software to slow down…

Stakeholders' Beliefs about the "TOEFL iBT"® Test as a Measure of Academic Language Ability. "TOEFL iBT"® Research Report. TOEFL iBT-22. ETS Research Report. RR-14-42

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Margaret E.; Montee, Megan

2014-01-01

The "TOEFL iBT"® test presents test takers with tasks meant to simulate the tasks required of students in English-medium universities. Research establishing the validity argument for the test provides evidence for score interpretation and the use of the test for university admissions and placement. Now that the test has been operational…

Using Response-Time Constraints in Item Selection To Control for Differential Speededness in Computerized Adaptive Testing. LSAC Research Report Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Linden, Wim J.; Scrams, David J.; Schnipke, Deborah L.

This paper proposes an item selection algorithm that can be used to neutralize the effect of time limits in computer adaptive testing. The method is based on a statistical model for the response-time distributions of the test takers on the items in the pool that is updated each time a new item has been administered. Predictions from the model are…

Results of thermal test of metallic molybdenum disk target and fast-acting valve testing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Virgo, M.; Chemerisov, S.; Gromov, R.

2016-12-01

This report describes the irradiation conditions for thermal testing of helium-cooled metallic disk targets that was conducted on March 9, 2016, at the Argonne National Laboratory electron linac. The four disks in this irradiation were pressed and sintered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory from molybdenum metal powder. Two of those disks were instrumented with thermocouples. Also reported are results of testing a fast-acting-valve system, which was designed to protect the accelerator in case of a target-window failure.

The Sequential Probability Ratio Test: An efficient alternative to exact binomial testing for Clean Water Act 303(d) evaluation.

PubMed

Chen, Connie; Gribble, Matthew O; Bartroff, Jay; Bay, Steven M; Goldstein, Larry

2017-05-01

The United States's Clean Water Act stipulates in section 303(d) that states must identify impaired water bodies for which total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) of pollution inputs into water bodies are developed. Decision-making procedures about how to list, or delist, water bodies as impaired, or not, per Clean Water Act 303(d) differ across states. In states such as California, whether or not a particular monitoring sample suggests that water quality is impaired can be regarded as a binary outcome variable, and California's current regulatory framework invokes a version of the exact binomial test to consolidate evidence across samples and assess whether the overall water body complies with the Clean Water Act. Here, we contrast the performance of California's exact binomial test with one potential alternative, the Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT). The SPRT uses a sequential testing framework, testing samples as they become available and evaluating evidence as it emerges, rather than measuring all the samples and calculating a test statistic at the end of the data collection process. Through simulations and theoretical derivations, we demonstrate that the SPRT on average requires fewer samples to be measured to have comparable Type I and Type II error rates as the current fixed-sample binomial test. Policymakers might consider efficient alternatives such as SPRT to current procedure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the "TOEFL Junior"® Standard Test as a Measure of Progress for Young English Language Learners. Research Report. ETS RR-15-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gu, Lin; Lockwood, John; Powers, Donald E.

2015-01-01

Standardized tests are often designed to provide only a snapshot of test takers' knowledge, skills, or abilities at a single point in time. Sometimes, however, they are expected to serve more demanding functions, one of them is assessing change in knowledge, skills, or ability over time because of learning effects.The latter is the case for the…

Examining the Impact of L2 Proficiency and Keyboarding Skills on Scores on TOEFL-iBT Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkaoui, Khaled

2014-01-01

A major concern with computer-based (CB) tests of second-language (L2) writing is that performance on such tests may be influenced by test-taker keyboarding skills. Poor keyboarding skills may force test-takers to focus their attention and cognitive resources on motor activities (i.e., keyboarding) and, consequently, other processes and aspects of…

Investigating Differences between American and Indian Raters in Assessing TOEFL iBT Speaking Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Jing; Llosa, Lorena

2015-01-01

This article reports on an investigation of the role raters' language background plays in raters' assessment of test takers' speaking ability. Specifically, this article examines differences between American and Indian raters in their scores and scoring processes when rating Indian test takers' responses to the Test of English as a Foreign…

Toxic Substances Control Act Test Submissions 2.0 (TSCATS 2.0)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Toxic Substances Control Act Test Submissions 2.0 (TSCATS 2.0) tracks the submissions of health and safety data submitted to the EPA either as required or voluntarily under certain sections of TSCA.

A New Procedure for Detection of Students' Rapid Guessing Responses Using Response Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Hongwen; Rios, Joseph A.; Haberman, Shelby; Liu, Ou Lydia; Wang, Jing; Paek, Insu

2016-01-01

Unmotivated test takers using rapid guessing in item responses can affect validity studies and teacher and institution performance evaluation negatively, making it critical to identify these test takers. The authors propose a new nonparametric method for finding response-time thresholds for flagging item responses that result from rapid-guessing…

The Effects of Essay Placement and Prompt Type on Performance on the New SAT®. Research Report No. 2006-7. ETS RR-06-34

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Hyeon-Joo; Walker, Michael E.

2007-01-01

This study evaluated (1) whether essay placement (either at the beginning or at the end of the test battery) impacts test-takers' performance on the critical reading, mathematics, and writing multiple choice measures; and (2) whether essay prompt type (either a simple one-line prompt or a prompt including a short passage) affects test-takers'…

Keeping Your Audience in Mind: Applying Audience Analysis to the Design of Interactive Score Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zapata-Rivera, Juan Diego; Katz, Irvin R.

2014-01-01

Score reports have one or more intended audiences: the people who use the reports to make decisions about test takers, including teachers, administrators, parents and test takers. Attention to audience when designing a score report supports assessment validity by increasing the likelihood that score users will interpret and use assessment results…

ACTS 118x: High Speed TCP Interoperability Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brooks, David E.; Buffinton, Craig; Beering, Dave R.; Welch, Arun; Ivancic, William D.; Zernic, Mike; Hoder, Douglas J.

1999-01-01

With the recent explosion of the Internet and the enormous business opportunities available to communication system providers, great interest has developed in improving the efficiency of data transfer over satellite links using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) of the Internet Protocol (IP) suite. The NASA's ACTS experiments program initiated a series of TCP experiments to demonstrate scalability of TCP/IP and determine to what extent the protocol can be optimized over a 622 Mbps satellite link. Through partnerships with the government technology oriented labs, computer, telecommunication, and satellite industries NASA Glenn was able to: (1) promote the development of interoperable, high-performance TCP/IP implementations across multiple computing / operating platforms; (2) work with the satellite industry to answer outstanding questions regarding the use of standard protocols (TCP/IP and ATM) for the delivery of advanced data services, and for use in spacecraft architectures; and (3) conduct a series of TCP/IP interoperability tests over OC12 ATM over a satellite network in a multi-vendor environment using ACTS. The experiments' various network configurations and the results are presented.

Is There Any Interaction between Background Knowledge and Language Proficiency That Affects "TOEFL iBT"® Reading Performance? TOEFL iBT® Research Report. TOEFL iBT-18. ETS Research Report RR-12-22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Yao Zhang; Liu, Ou Lydia

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effect of the interaction between test takers' background knowledge and language proficiency on their performance on the "TOEFL iBT"® reading section. Test takers with the target content background knowledge (the focal groups) and those without (the reference groups) were identified for each of the 5 selected…

ACT/SAT Test Preparation and Coaching Programs. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2016

2016-01-01

Most colleges and universities in the United States require students to take the SAT or ACT as part of the college application process. These tests are high stakes in at least three ways. First, most universities factor scores on these tests into admissions decisions. Second, higher scores can increase a student's chances of being admitted to…

C-TOC (Cognitive Testing on Computer): investigating the usability and validity of a novel self-administered cognitive assessment tool in aging and early dementia.

PubMed

Jacova, Claudia; McGrenere, Joanna; Lee, Hyunsoo S; Wang, William W; Le Huray, Sarah; Corenblith, Emily F; Brehmer, Matthew; Tang, Charlotte; Hayden, Sherri; Beattie, B Lynn; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R

2015-01-01

Cognitive Testing on Computer (C-TOC) is a novel computer-based test battery developed to improve both usability and validity in the computerized assessment of cognitive function in older adults. C-TOC's usability was evaluated concurrently with its iterative development to version 4 in subjects with and without cognitive impairment, and health professional advisors representing different ethnocultural groups. C-TOC version 4 was then validated against neuropsychological tests (NPTs), and by comparing performance scores of subjects with normal cognition, Cognitive Impairment Not Dementia (CIND) and Alzheimer disease. C-TOC's language tests were validated in subjects with aphasic disorders. The most important usability issue that emerged from consultations with 27 older adults and with 8 cultural advisors was the test-takers' understanding of the task, particularly executive function tasks. User interface features did not pose significant problems. C-TOC version 4 tests correlated with comparator NPT (r=0.4 to 0.7). C-TOC test scores were normal (n=16)>CIND (n=16)>Alzheimer disease (n=6). All normal/CIND NPT performance differences were detected on C-TOC. Low computer knowledge adversely affected test performance, particularly in CIND. C-TOC detected impairments in aphasic disorders (n=11). In general, C-TOC had good validity in detecting cognitive impairment. Ensuring test-takers' understanding of the tasks, and considering their computer knowledge appear important steps towards C-TOC's implementation.

The Mediating Effect of Listening Metacognitive Awareness between Test-Taking Motivation and Listening Test Score: An Expectancy-Value Theory Approach

PubMed Central

Xu, Jian

2017-01-01

The present study investigated test-taking motivation in L2 listening testing context by applying Expectancy-Value Theory as the framework. Specifically, this study was intended to examine the complex relationships among expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, listening metacognitive awareness, and listening test score using data from a large-scale and high-stakes language test among Chinese first-year undergraduates. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating effect of listening metacognitive awareness on the relationship between expectancy, importance, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score. According to the results, test takers’ listening scores can be predicted by expectancy, interest, and listening anxiety significantly. The relationship between expectancy, interest, listening anxiety, and listening test score was mediated by listening metacognitive awareness. The findings have implications for test takers to improve their test taking motivation and listening metacognitive awareness, as well as for L2 teachers to intervene in L2 listening classrooms. PMID:29312063

Alternate Test Procedures to Perform Clean Water Act Monitoring for Region 9

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

When performing Clean Water Act monitoring, parties interested in using a method not approved in 40 CFR Part 136 must apply to use the alternate test procedure (ATP) in the Region in which the discharging facility is located.

ACT Test

MedlinePlus

... Sample Required? A blood sample drawn from a vein in your arm Test Preparation Needed? None Looking ... is obtained by inserting a needle into a vein in the arm. Is any test preparation needed ...

The Effects of Using Selected Metacognitive Strategies on ACT Mathematics Sub-Test Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LeMay, Jeffrey W.

2016-01-01

This quasi-experimental post-test only control group designed quantitative study examined whether or not members of an experimental group of participants who utilized two metacognitive strategy training regimens experienced a significant increase in their ACT mathematics sub-test scores compared to a group of students who did not utilize either of…

Women and Graduate Management Education. 2015 Data to Go

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graduate Management Admission Council, 2015

2015-01-01

To commemorate International Women's Day on March 8, 2015, GMAC prepared this Data-to-Go brief as a summary of current GMAT test taker and research data about women in the business school pipeline. Findings in this Data-to-Go report are derived from several sources of GMAT test taker data and GMAC surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015. In testing…

Clinical trials transparency and the Trial and Experimental Studies Transparency (TEST) act.

PubMed

Logvinov, Ilana

2014-03-01

Clinical trial research is the cornerstone for successful advancement of medicine that provides hope for millions of people in the future. Full transparency in clinical trials may allow independent investigators to evaluate study designs, perform additional analysis of data, and potentially eliminate duplicate studies. Current regulatory system and publishers rely on investigators and pharmaceutical industries for complete and accurate reporting of results from completed clinical trials. Legislation seems to be the only way to enforce mandatory disclosure of results. The Trial and Experimental Studies Transparency (TEST) Act of 2012 was introduced to the legislators in the United States to promote greater transparency in research industry. Public safety and advancement of science are the driving forces for the proposed policy change. The TEST Act may benefit the society and researchers; however, there are major concerns with participants' privacy and intellectual property protection. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enrollment Management Trends Report, 2012: A Snapshot of the 2011 ACT-Tested High School Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2012

2012-01-01

ACT created the "Enrollment Management Trends Report" to provide enrollment managers and other college administrators with information about students' patterns during the college choice process of the 2011 high school graduates who took the ACT[R] test. More than 1.6 million students--roughly half of the graduating class of 2011--took…

Extracurricular activities: Investigating the affects of participation-nonparticipation on the Georgia High School Science Graduation Test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, Ray A.

Student achievement research suggests that participation in extracurricular activities has a positive impact on the academic and developmental outcomes for adolescents. Specifically, several studies reported that adolescents who participate in extra-curricular activities are more likely to experience increases in academic achievement, self-esteem, high school graduation rates, and pro-social behaviors. On the other hand, there is research suggesting that participation in extracurricular activities may distract students from their academic pursuits. The state of Georgia requires all eleventh grade students to participate in the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). The GHSGT consists of five separate tests that include (a) English/language arts, (b) math, (c) writing, (d) social studies, and (e) science. Each comprehensive exam is worth 600 points. A high school diploma will be awarded if the student scores at least 500 points on each individual exam. Further, review of student outcomes on the GHSGT revealed that first-time test takers were failing the science portion of the test at a greater percentage than any other subject on the GHSGT. Specifically, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) reported that from 2002 through 2004, a total of 70,451 students or 30.3% of students that were first-time test takers failed the science portion of the GHSGT. As a result, investigating factors that potentially could increase student achievement in science became the impetus for this study. In particular, this study examined the relationships between the levels of student participation in school sponsored extracurricular activities in relation to the level of student achievement in the area of science.

Voting with their mice: personal genome testing and the "participatory turn" in disease research.

PubMed

Prainsack, Barbara

2011-05-01

While the availability of genome tests on the internet has given rise to heated debates about the likely impact on personal genome information on test-takers, on insurance, and on healthcare systems, in this article I argue that a more tangible effect of personal genomics is that it has started to change how participation in disease research is conceived and enacted. I examine three models of research participation that personal genomics customers are encouraged to engage in. I conclude with an evaluation of the pitfalls and benefits of "crowdsourcing" genetic disease research in the context of personal genomics.

16 CFR 1611.37 - Reasonable and representative tests under section 8 of the Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONS STANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF VINYL PLASTIC FILM Rules and Regulations..., on initial test a film or a textile fabric with a nitro-cellulose fiber, finish or coating, does not... production shall be deemed reasonable and representative tests for such film or textile fabric. (d...

16 CFR 1611.37 - Reasonable and representative tests under section 8 of the Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONS STANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF VINYL PLASTIC FILM Rules and Regulations..., on initial test a film or a textile fabric with a nitro-cellulose fiber, finish or coating, does not... production shall be deemed reasonable and representative tests for such film or textile fabric. (d...

KATTS: a framework for maximizing NCLEX-RN performance.

PubMed

McDowell, Betsy M

2008-04-01

A key indicator of the quality of a nursing education program is the performance of its graduates as first-time takers of the NCLEX-RN. As a result, nursing schools are open to strategies that strengthen the performance of their graduates on the examination. The Knowledge base, Anxiety control, Test-Taking Skills (KATTS) framework focuses on the three components of achieving a maximum score on an examination. In KATTS, all three components must be present and in proper balance to maximize a test taker's score. By strengthening not just one but all of these components, graduates can improve their overall test scores significantly. Suggested strategies for strengthening each component of KATTS are provided. This framework has been used successfully in designing remedial tutoring programs and in assisting first-time NCLEX test takers in preparing for the licensing examination.

16 CFR § 1611.37 - Reasonable and representative tests under section 8 of the Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... COMMISSION FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONS STANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF VINYL PLASTIC FILM Rules and..., on initial test a film or a textile fabric with a nitro-cellulose fiber, finish or coating, does not... production shall be deemed reasonable and representative tests for such film or textile fabric. (d...

The Effect of the Use of Video Texts on ESL Listening Test-Taker Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wagner, Elvis

2010-01-01

Video is widely used in the teaching of L2 listening, and SLA researchers have argued that the visual components of spoken texts are useful for the listener in comprehending aural information. Yet video texts are rarely used on tests of L2 listening ability, perhaps in part due to the belief that including the visual channel involves assessing…

An "Appropriate" Test Taker: The Everyday Classroom during the National Testing Period in School Year Three in Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silfver, Eva; Sjöberg, Gunnar; Bagger, Anette

2016-01-01

This article draws on data from a bigger project where we explore what is taking place in the daily life of classrooms during the national testing period in mathematics for 9-10-year-old children in Sweden. Data were produced by observations, video-recordings and interviews with children. The article shows on a micro level how assessment trends,…

Behavioral and fMRI evidence of the differing cognitive load of domain-specific assessments.

PubMed

Howard, S J; Burianová, H; Ehrich, J; Kervin, L; Calleia, A; Barkus, E; Carmody, J; Humphry, S

2015-06-25

Standards-referenced educational reform has increased the prevalence of standardized testing; however, whether these tests accurately measure students' competencies has been questioned. This may be due to domain-specific assessments placing a differing domain-general cognitive load on test-takers. To investigate this possibility, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify and quantify the neural correlates of performance on current, international standardized methods of spelling assessment. Out-of-scanner testing was used to further examine differences in assessment results. Results provide converging evidence that: (a) the spelling assessments differed in the cognitive load placed on test-takers; (b) performance decreased with increasing cognitive load of the assessment; and (c) brain regions associated with working memory were more highly activated during performance of assessments that were higher in cognitive load. These findings suggest that assessment design should optimize the cognitive load placed on test-takers, to ensure students' results are an accurate reflection of their true levels of competency. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

ACTS Experiments Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schertler, R. J.

1986-01-01

An overview of the ACTS Experiments Program is presented. ACTS is being developed and will flight test the advanced technologies associated with: a Ka-band multibeam antenna, onboard signal processing and switching as well as laser communications. A nominal 3 yr experiments program is planned. Through the experiments program, the capabilities of the ACTS system will be made available to U.S. industry, university and government experimenters to test, prove the feasibility and evaluate the key ACTS system technologies. Communication modes of operation using the baseband processor and microwave switch matrix are presented, along with the antenna coverage pattern. Potential experiment categories are also presented and briefly discussed. An overall schedule of activities associated with the experiments program is outlined. Results of the ACTS Experiments Program will provide information vital to successful industry implementation of ACTS technology in a future operational system.

[Validation of a Spanish version of the Childhood Asthma Control Test (Sc-ACT) for use in Spain].

PubMed

Pérez-Yarza, E G; Castro-Rodriguez, J A; Villa Asensi, J R; Garde Garde, J; Hidalgo Bermejo, F J

2015-08-01

The Childhood Asthma Control Test (c-ACT) is a validated tool for determining pediatric asthma control. However, it is not validated in the Spanish language in Spain. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Childhood Asthma Control Test (Sc-ACT) for assessing asthma control in children ages 4 to11. This national, multicentre, prospective study was conducted in Spain with asthmatic children and their caregivers. Patients were assessed at 3 visits (Baseline, 2 Weeks, and 4 Months). Clinical variables included: symptoms, exacerbations, FEV1, asthma classification, PAQLQ and PACQLQ questionnaire scores, and asthma control as perceived by physicians, patients and caregivers. The Sc-ACT feasibility, validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change were assessed. A total of 394 children were included; mean (SD) time to complete the Sc-ACT was 5.3 (4.4) minutes. Sc-ACT score was correlated with asthma control as perceived by physician (-0.52), patient (-0.53), and caregiver (-0.51) and with the PAQLQ (0.56) and PACQLQ (0.55) scores. Sc-ACT was found to be significantly related to intensity and frequency of asthma symptoms. Cronbach alpha coefficient α was 0.81 and intraclass correlation coefficient was ≥0.85 for all of the items. The global effect size of Sc-ACT was 0.55. The cutoff point scores of 21 or higher indicated a good asthma control and their MCID was 4 points. The Spanish version of the c-ACT was found to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for evaluating asthma control in Spanish-speaking children ages 4 to 11 in Spain. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The Secrets of Taking Any Test: Learn the Techniques Successful Test-Takers Know. The Basics Made Easy...in 20 Minutes a Day.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Judith N.

The test-preparation program in this guide covers all forms of test taking to help students deal with real-world problems like test anxiety and insufficient preparation time. The chapters are: (1) "Finding Out about the Tests You Must Take"; (2) "Making a Study Plan"; (3) "Carrying Out Your Study Plan"; (4) "Learning Strategies"; (5) "Coping with…

76 FR 6765 - Consumer Product Safety Act: Notice of Commission Action on the Stay of Enforcement of Testing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-08

... Stay of Enforcement of Testing and Certification Requirements AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety... enforcement of certain testing and certification provisions of section 14 of the Consumer Product Safety Act..., standard, or regulation. For nonchildren's products, the certification must be based on a test of each...

Socially-marketed rapid diagnostic tests and ACT in the private sector: ten years of experience in Cambodia.

PubMed

Yeung, Shunmay; Patouillard, Edith; Allen, Henrietta; Socheat, Duong

2011-08-18

Whilst some populations have recently experienced dramatic declines in malaria, the majority of those most at risk of Plasmodium falciparum malaria still lack access to effective treatment with artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) and others are already facing parasites resistant to artemisinins.In this context, there is a crucial need to improve both access to and targeting of ACT through greater availability of good quality ACT and parasitological diagnosis. This is an issue of increasing urgency notably in the private commercial sector, which, in many countries, plays an important role in the provision of malaria treatment. The Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) is a recent initiative that aims to increase the provision of affordable ACT in public, private and NGO sectors through a manufacturer-level subsidy. However, to date, there is little documented experience in the programmatic implementation of subsidized ACT in the private sector. Cambodia is in the unique position of having more than 10 years of experience not only in implementing subsidized ACT, but also rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) as part of a nationwide social marketing programme. The programme includes behaviour change communication and the training of private providers as well as the sale and distribution of Malarine, the recommended ACT, and Malacheck, the RDT. This paper describes and evaluates this experience by drawing on the results of household and provider surveys conducted since the start of the programme. The available evidence suggests that providers' and consumers' awareness of Malarine increased rapidly, but that of Malacheck much less so. In addition, improvements in ACT and RDT availability and uptake were relatively slow, particularly in more remote areas.The lack of standardization in the survey methods and the gaps in the data highlight the importance of establishing a clear system for monitoring and evaluation for similar initiatives. Despite these limitations, a

Socially-marketed rapid diagnostic tests and ACT in the private sector: ten years of experience in Cambodia

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Whilst some populations have recently experienced dramatic declines in malaria, the majority of those most at risk of Plasmodium falciparum malaria still lack access to effective treatment with artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) and others are already facing parasites resistant to artemisinins. In this context, there is a crucial need to improve both access to and targeting of ACT through greater availability of good quality ACT and parasitological diagnosis. This is an issue of increasing urgency notably in the private commercial sector, which, in many countries, plays an important role in the provision of malaria treatment. The Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) is a recent initiative that aims to increase the provision of affordable ACT in public, private and NGO sectors through a manufacturer-level subsidy. However, to date, there is little documented experience in the programmatic implementation of subsidized ACT in the private sector. Cambodia is in the unique position of having more than 10 years of experience not only in implementing subsidized ACT, but also rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) as part of a nationwide social marketing programme. The programme includes behaviour change communication and the training of private providers as well as the sale and distribution of Malarine, the recommended ACT, and Malacheck, the RDT. This paper describes and evaluates this experience by drawing on the results of household and provider surveys conducted since the start of the programme. The available evidence suggests that providers' and consumers' awareness of Malarine increased rapidly, but that of Malacheck much less so. In addition, improvements in ACT and RDT availability and uptake were relatively slow, particularly in more remote areas. The lack of standardization in the survey methods and the gaps in the data highlight the importance of establishing a clear system for monitoring and evaluation for similar initiatives. Despite these limitations, a

Standard Errors and Confidence Intervals of Norm Statistics for Educational and Psychological Tests.

PubMed

Oosterhuis, Hannah E M; van der Ark, L Andries; Sijtsma, Klaas

2016-11-14

Norm statistics allow for the interpretation of scores on psychological and educational tests, by relating the test score of an individual test taker to the test scores of individuals belonging to the same gender, age, or education groups, et cetera. Given the uncertainty due to sampling error, one would expect researchers to report standard errors for norm statistics. In practice, standard errors are seldom reported; they are either unavailable or derived under strong distributional assumptions that may not be realistic for test scores. We derived standard errors for four norm statistics (standard deviation, percentile ranks, stanine boundaries and Z-scores) under the mild assumption that the test scores are multinomially distributed. A simulation study showed that the standard errors were unbiased and that corresponding Wald-based confidence intervals had good coverage. Finally, we discuss the possibilities for applying the standard errors in practical test use in education and psychology. The procedure is provided via the R function check.norms, which is available in the mokken package.

High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Sharon L.; Glass, Gene V.; Berliner, David C.

2005-01-01

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), standardized test scores are the indicator used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. Each state is responsible for constructing an accountability system, attaching consequences--or stakes--for student performance. The theory of action implied by this…

Clinical Laboratory Testing in the Era of Directly Acting Antiviral Therapies for Hepatitis C

PubMed Central

Wilson, Eleanor M.; Rosenthal, Elana S.; Kattakuzhy, Sarah; Tang, Lydia

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Directly acting antiviral (DAA) combination therapies for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are highly effective, but treatment decisions remain complex. Laboratory testing is important to evaluate a range of viral, host, and pharmacological factors when considering HCV treatment, and patients must be monitored during and after therapy for safety and to assess the viral response. In this review, we discuss the laboratory tests relevant for the treatment of HCV infection in the era of DAA therapy, grouped according to viral and host factors. PMID:27795306

75 FR 34360 - Consumer Product Safety Act: Notice of Commission Action on the Stay of Enforcement of Testing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-17

... certification provisions of section 14 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) as amended by section 102 of..., the certification must be based on a test of each product or a reasonable testing program. For children's products, the certification must be based on testing conducted by a CPSC-accepted third party...

75 FR 70664 - Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-18

... Act; Analysis and Sampling Procedures; Extension of Comment Period AGENCY: Environmental Protection..., 2010, EPA proposed changes to analysis and sampling test procedures in wastewater regulations. These...

16 CFR 1611.37 - Reasonable and representative tests under section 8 of the Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONS STANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF VINYL PLASTIC FILM Rules and Regulations... has a dense cut pile of uniform short length or looped yarns, does not exhibit a surface flash and does not ignite, such test shall suffice for any such fabric having a dense cut pile of the same length...

Self-acting seals for helicopter engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lynwander, P.

1975-01-01

An experimental evaluation was conducted with NASA-designed self-acting face and circumferential seals for use in the main shaft positions of advanced gas turbine engines. The seals featured Rayleigh step pads (self-acting geometry) for lift augmentation. The tested seals incorporated design improvements over previous self-acting configurations. Self-acting face seals were tested to speeds of 214 m/s (700 ft/sec, 63700 rpm), air pressures of 216.8 N/sq cm abs (314.7 psia), and air temperatures of 688K (778 F). Self-acting circumferential seals were tested to speeds of 183 m/s (600 ft/sec, 47700 rpm), air pressures of 61.8 N/sq cm abs (89.7 psia), and air temperatures of 711 K (820 F). Self-acting face-seals are capable of operating at conditions exceeding conventional seal capability. The limit on speed capability was found to be the flatness of the seal-seat. The self-acting circumferential seal design tested requires further development for use in advanced engines.

A survey of physician receptivity to molecular diagnostic testing and readiness to act on results for early-stage colon cancer patients.

PubMed

Myers, Ronald E; Wolf, Thomas; Shwae, Phillip; Hegarty, Sarah; Peiper, Stephen C; Waldman, Scott A

2016-10-03

We sought to assess physician interest in molecular prognosic testing for patients with early stage colon cancer, and identify factors associated with the likelihood of test adoption. We identified physicians who care for patients with early-stage (pN0) colon cancer patients, mailed them a survey, and analyzed survey responses to assess clinician receptivity to the use of a new molecular test (GUCY2C) that identifies patients at risk for recurrence, and clinician readiness to act on abnormal test results. Of 104 eligible potential respondents, 41 completed and returned the survey. Among responding physicians, 56 % were receptive to using the new prognostic test. Multivariable analyses showed that physicians in academic medical centers were significantly more receptive to molecular test use than those in non-academic settings. Forty-one percent of respondents were ready to act on abnormal molecular test results. Physicians who viewed current staging methods as inaccurate and were confident in their capacity to incorporate molecular testing in practice were more likely to say they would act on abnormal test results. Physician receptivity to molecular diagnostic testing for early-stage colon cancer patients is likely to be influenced by practice setting and perceptions related to delivering quality care to patients. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01972737.

75 FR 4316 - Integration of Variable Energy Resources

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... their supply in the real-time energy markets (i.e., act as a price taker). Because day-ahead schedules... conditions and that day-ahead and real-time energy prices will converge under the scenario of increasing... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 18 CFR Chapter I [Docket No. RM10-11-000...

Ultra-long acting calcium channel blockers may decrease accuracy of the acetylcholine provocation test.

PubMed

Kurabayashi, Manabu; Asano, Mitsutoshi; Shimura, Tsukasa; Suzuki, Hidetoshi; Aoyagi, Hideshi; Yamauchi, Yasuteru; Okishige, Kaoru; Ashikaga, Takashi; Isobe, Mitsuaki

2017-06-01

When drug-induced coronary spasm provocation tests are performed, a washout period of >48h for calcium channel blockers (CCBs) is uniformly recommended. However, each CCB has a distinct half-life, and little is known about the influence of prior oral administration of CCBs on acetylcholine provocation test to evaluate coronary vasomotor reaction. We examined 245 consecutive patients with suspected vasospastic angina who had undergone acetylcholine provocation test. Of those patients, 29 patients had been on amlodipine, an ultra-long term acting CCB (group A), 34 on other CCBs (group O), and 182 patients on no CCB (group N). After CCBs had been withheld > 48h, we performed acetylcholine provocation, which resulted in 152 positive, 36 intermediate, and 57 negative reactions. We evaluated coronary artery tone calculated as follows: (luminal diameter after nitrate-baseline luminal diameter)÷(luminal diameter after nitrate)×100 (%). In group A patients, coronary artery tone was lower (A:9.1±6.9% vs. O:11.7±8.3% vs. N:12.1±8.5%, p=0.0011) and the positive rate of acetylcholine provocation test was lower than group O and group N (A:41% vs. O:68% vs. N:64%, p=0.047). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that taking amlodipine until 2days before acetylcholine provocation test was a significant inverse predictor for acetylcholine-provoked coronary spasm (odds ratio 0.327; 95% confidence interval 0.125-0.858, p=0.023). Residual vasodilatory effects of ultra-long acting CCB may decrease coronary artery tone and the vasoconstrictive reaction to acetylcholine suggesting that a 2-day pre-test drug holiday may not be long enough. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act. Appendices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Sharon L.; Glass, Gene V.; Berliner, David C.

2005-01-01

This paper presents the appendices to the "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act" report. It contains the following appendices: (1) Example of Context for Assessing State-Level Stakes Sheet--Connecticut; (2) Example of Completed Rewards and Sanctions Worksheet--Connecticut; (3) Directions…

Testing for Bias against Female Test Takers of the Graduate Management Admissions Test and Potential Impact on Admissions to Graduate Programs in Business.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Robert E.; Bachrach, Daniel G.

2003-01-01

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores and grade point average in graduate core courses were compared for 190 male and 144 female business administration students. No significant differences in course performance were found, but males had been admitted with significantly higher GMAT scores, suggesting a bias against women. (Contains 27…

76 FR 48933 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-09

... Rule Change Relating to Fees for Complex Orders August 3, 2011. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the...'').\\3\\ \\3\\ Options classes subject to maker/taker fees are identified by their ticker symbol on the... Market Maker (``FARMM''), is a market maker as defined in Section 3(a)(38) of the Securities Exchange Act...

(De)constructing literacy: Education inequalities and the production of space in San Diego, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tangeman, Andrew Gerrit

Since its inception, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and recent additions to the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) have elicited a broad swath of responses from the educational community. These responses include critical discussions of how standardized testing requirements proliferate a "teach for the test" mentality that transforms how reading, writing, and mathematics are taught in public schools. This thesis focused specifically on "literacy" in relation to the policies that challenge its status as a subjective form of communication, knowledge sharing, and story-telling. Embedded within the term "literacy" are sets of socially-constructed dualisms such as "good school" vs. "bad school," "literate" vs. "illiterate," and "reader" vs. "test-taker" that are propagated under education reform. Investigating these dualisms involved a mixed methods approach, which included the use of critical theory, geovisualization, and geographic analysis. The resulting data allows for a comprehensive look into the economic, political, social, and cultural forces involved in the production of literate space(s) in San Diego, California.

Eliminating the use of ticket takers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-03-01

The Oregon Department of Transportation tested an automated means of collecting data from paving trucks as an alternative to the traditional method of "ticket taking". A computerized communication system was designed and built by Quality Design Syste...

Validating Standardized Testing: The Role of the SAT and ACT in Undergraduate Admissions. [Background Information to Legislative Hearing].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Jamillah; Teng, Allen

A hearing was planned by the California Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach to consider the role of the Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) in the admission of students to California's public universities. The hearing was intended to provide a serious discussion of the merits and…

High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Sharon L.; Glass, Gene V.; Berliner, David C.

2005-01-01

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), standardized test scores are the indicator used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. Each state is responsible for constructing an accountability system, attaching consequences--or stakes--for student performance. The theory of action implied by this…

76 FR 77742 - Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-14

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 136 [EPA-HQ-OW-2010-0192; FRL-9504-2] Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling... waste constituent. Similarly, if EPA has established sampling requirements, measurements taken under an...

The Impact of Introducing Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests on Fever Case Management: A Synthesis of Ten Studies from the ACT Consortium.

PubMed

Bruxvoort, Katia J; Leurent, Baptiste; Chandler, Clare I R; Ansah, Evelyn K; Baiden, Frank; Björkman, Anders; Burchett, Helen E D; Clarke, Siân E; Cundill, Bonnie; DiLiberto, Debora D; Elfving, Kristina; Goodman, Catherine; Hansen, Kristian S; Kachur, S Patrick; Lal, Sham; Lalloo, David G; Leslie, Toby; Magnussen, Pascal; Mangham-Jefferies, Lindsay; Mårtensson, Andreas; Mayan, Ismail; Mbonye, Anthony K; Msellem, Mwinyi I; Onwujekwe, Obinna E; Owusu-Agyei, Seth; Rowland, Mark W; Shakely, Delér; Staedke, Sarah G; Vestergaard, Lasse S; Webster, Jayne; Whitty, Christopher J M; Wiseman, Virginia L; Yeung, Shunmay; Schellenberg, David; Hopkins, Heidi

2017-10-01

Since 2010, the World Health Organization has been recommending that all suspected cases of malaria be confirmed with parasite-based diagnosis before treatment. These guidelines represent a paradigm shift away from presumptive antimalarial treatment of fever. Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) are central to implementing this policy, intended to target artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) to patients with confirmed malaria and to improve management of patients with nonmalarial fevers. The ACT Consortium conducted ten linked studies, eight in sub-Saharan Africa and two in Afghanistan, to evaluate the impact of mRDT introduction on case management across settings that vary in malaria endemicity and healthcare provider type. This synthesis includes 562,368 outpatient encounters (study size range 2,400-432,513). mRDTs were associated with significantly lower ACT prescription (range 8-69% versus 20-100%). Prescribing did not always adhere to malaria test results; in several settings, ACTs were prescribed to more than 30% of test-negative patients or to fewer than 80% of test-positive patients. Either an antimalarial or an antibiotic was prescribed for more than 75% of patients across most settings; lower antimalarial prescription for malaria test-negative patients was partly offset by higher antibiotic prescription. Symptomatic management with antipyretics alone was prescribed for fewer than 25% of patients across all scenarios. In community health worker and private retailer settings, mRDTs increased referral of patients to other providers. This synthesis provides an overview of shifts in case management that may be expected with mRDT introduction and highlights areas of focus to improve design and implementation of future case management programs.

The Impact of Introducing Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests on Fever Case Management: A Synthesis of Ten Studies from the ACT Consortium

PubMed Central

Bruxvoort, Katia J.; Leurent, Baptiste; Chandler, Clare I. R.; Ansah, Evelyn K.; Baiden, Frank; Björkman, Anders; Burchett, Helen E. D.; Clarke, Siân E.; Cundill, Bonnie; DiLiberto, Debora D.; Elfving, Kristina; Goodman, Catherine; Hansen, Kristian S.; Kachur, S. Patrick; Lal, Sham; Lalloo, David G.; Leslie, Toby; Magnussen, Pascal; Mangham-Jefferies, Lindsay; Mårtensson, Andreas; Mayan, Ismail; Mbonye, Anthony K.; Msellem, Mwinyi I.; Onwujekwe, Obinna E.; Owusu-Agyei, Seth; Rowland, Mark W.; Shakely, Delér; Staedke, Sarah G.; Vestergaard, Lasse S.; Webster, Jayne; Whitty, Christopher J. M.; Wiseman, Virginia L.; Yeung, Shunmay; Schellenberg, David; Hopkins, Heidi

2017-01-01

Abstract. Since 2010, the World Health Organization has been recommending that all suspected cases of malaria be confirmed with parasite-based diagnosis before treatment. These guidelines represent a paradigm shift away from presumptive antimalarial treatment of fever. Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) are central to implementing this policy, intended to target artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) to patients with confirmed malaria and to improve management of patients with nonmalarial fevers. The ACT Consortium conducted ten linked studies, eight in sub-Saharan Africa and two in Afghanistan, to evaluate the impact of mRDT introduction on case management across settings that vary in malaria endemicity and healthcare provider type. This synthesis includes 562,368 outpatient encounters (study size range 2,400–432,513). mRDTs were associated with significantly lower ACT prescription (range 8–69% versus 20–100%). Prescribing did not always adhere to malaria test results; in several settings, ACTs were prescribed to more than 30% of test-negative patients or to fewer than 80% of test-positive patients. Either an antimalarial or an antibiotic was prescribed for more than 75% of patients across most settings; lower antimalarial prescription for malaria test-negative patients was partly offset by higher antibiotic prescription. Symptomatic management with antipyretics alone was prescribed for fewer than 25% of patients across all scenarios. In community health worker and private retailer settings, mRDTs increased referral of patients to other providers. This synthesis provides an overview of shifts in case management that may be expected with mRDT introduction and highlights areas of focus to improve design and implementation of future case management programs. PMID:28820705

Wind Tunnel Testing on Crosswind Aerodynamic Forces Acting on Railway Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Hyeok-Bin; Nam, Seong-Won; You, Won-Hee

This study is devoted to measure the aerodynamic forces acting on two railway trains, one of which is a high-speed train at 300km/h maximum operation speed, and the other is a conventional train at the operating speed 100km/h. The three-dimensional train shapes have been modeled as detailed as possible including the inter-car, the upper cavity for pantograph, and the bogie systems. The aerodynamic forces on each vehicle of the trains have been measured in the subsonic wind tunnel with 4m×3m test section of Korea Aerospace Research Institute at Daejeon, Korea. The aerodynamic forces and moments of the train models have been plotted for various yaw angles and the characteristics of the aerodynamic coefficients has been discussed relating to the experimental conditions.

78 FR 14457 - Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-06

... Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants Under the Clean Water Act; Analysis and Sampling... for use as an alternative oil and grease method. Some comments were specific to the sampling...-side comparison using the specific procedures (e.g. sampling frequency, number of samples, QA/QC, and...

Wave drift damping acting on multiple circular cylinders (model tests)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kinoshita, Takeshi; Sunahara, Shunji; Bao, W.

1995-12-31

The wave drift damping for the slow drift motion of a four-column platform is experimentally investigated. The estimation of damping force of the slow drift motion of moored floating structures in ocean waves, is one of the most important topics. Bao et al. calculated an interaction of multiple circular cylinders based on the potential flow theory, and showed that the wave drift damping is significantly influenced by the interaction between cylinders. This calculation method assumes that the slow drift motion is approximately replaced by steady current, that is, structures on slow drift motion are supposed to be equivalent to onesmore » in both regular waves and slow current. To validate semi-analytical solutions of Bao et al., experiments were carried out. At first, added resistance due to waves acting on a structure composed of multiple (four) vertical circular cylinders fixed to a slowly moving carriage, was measured in regular waves. Next, the added resistance of the structure moored by linear spring to the slowly moving carriage were measured in regular waves. Furthermore, to validate the assumption that the slow drift motion is replaced by steady current, free decay tests in still water and in regular waves were compared with the simulation of the slow drift motion using the wave drift damping coefficient obtained by the added resistance tests.« less

Arsenic in private well water part 1 of 3: Impact of the New Jersey Private Well Testing Act on household testing and mitigation behavior.

PubMed

Flanagan, Sara V; Spayd, Steven E; Procopio, Nicholas A; Chillrud, Steven N; Braman, Stuart; Zheng, Yan

2016-08-15

Regularly ingesting water with elevated arsenic increases adverse health risks. Since September 2002, the NJ Private Well Testing Act (PWTA) has required testing untreated well water for arsenic during real estate transactions in 12 counties. Its implementation provides an opportunity to investigate the effects of policy intervention on well testing and treatment behavior. Here we analyze results of a survey mailed to 1943 random addresses (37% response), including responses from 502 private well households who purchased their homes prior to PWTA commencement and 168 who purchased after. We find the PWTA has significantly increased arsenic testing rates in an area where 21% of wells contain arsenic above the 5μg/L NJ drinking water standard. The PWTA has allowed identification of more wells with arsenic (20% of post-PWTA vs. 4% of pre-PWTA households) and more treatment for arsenic (19% of post-PWTA vs. 3% of pre-PWTA households). Such an Act is a partial answer to significant socioeconomic disparities in testing observed among households for whom it is not required. Additionally residents purchasing homes since 2002 are younger and disproportionately more likely to have children in their household (60% vs. 32%), a priority group given their particular vulnerability to effects of arsenic. Despite more wells tested under the PWTA, post-PWTA well owners forget or misremember arsenic test results more often, are more likely to report not knowing what kind of treatment they are using, and are not reporting better maintenance or monitoring of their treatment systems than pre-PWTA households. This suggests serious challenges to reducing arsenic exposure remain even when testing is a requirement. Furthermore, only a fraction of wells have been tested under the PWTA due to the slow pace of housing turnover. We recommend more public resources be made available to support private well testing among socially and biologically vulnerable groups. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B

Cognitive function and unsafe driving acts during an on-road test among community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairments.

PubMed

Hotta, Ryo; Makizako, Hyuma; Doi, Takehiko; Tsutsumimoto, Kota; Nakakubo, Sho; Makino, Keitaro; Shimada, Hiroyuki

2018-02-19

To examine the relationship between cognitive function and unsafe driving acts among community-dwelling older adults with cognitive impairments. Participants (n = 160) were older residents of Obu, Japan, aged ≥65 years with cognitive impairments. They regularly drove and were assessed for the number of unsafe driving acts without adequate verification during an on-road test. We also evaluated cognitive function (attention, executive function and processing speed). Other examined variables included demographics, driving characteristics and visual condition. Participants were classified into two groups according to the number of unsafe driving acts as follows: high group (≥4 unsafe driving acts) and low group (≤3 unsafe driving acts). The high group participants were older in age (P < 0.001) and obtained a lower score on the symbol digit substitution task (P = 0.002) than the low group. The number of unsafe driving acts showed modest significant positive correlations with age (r = 0.396, P < 0.001). The symbol digit substitution task score was significantly associated with the number of unsafe driving acts (β = -0.196, P < 0.05) after adjusting for age group. Processing speed was associated with unsafe driving acts that became worse with increasing age. Future study will be required to longitudinally examine the influence of processing speed on traffic accidents for those with cognitive impairments. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; ••: ••-••. © 2018 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations

PubMed Central

Roche, Bryan; O’Reilly, Anthony; Gavin, Amanda; Ruiz, Maria R.; Arancibia, Gabriela

2012-01-01

Background The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain. Objective The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists. Design Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined. Results New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations. Conclusion It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than ‘unconscious cognitions’, per se. PMID:24693346

Derivation and Applicability of Asymptotic Results for Multiple Subtests Person-Fit Statistics

PubMed Central

Albers, Casper J.; Meijer, Rob R.; Tendeiro, Jorge N.

2016-01-01

In high-stakes testing, it is important to check the validity of individual test scores. Although a test may, in general, result in valid test scores for most test takers, for some test takers, test scores may not provide a good description of a test taker’s proficiency level. Person-fit statistics have been proposed to check the validity of individual test scores. In this study, the theoretical asymptotic sampling distribution of two person-fit statistics that can be used for tests that consist of multiple subtests is first discussed. Second, simulation study was conducted to investigate the applicability of this asymptotic theory for tests of finite length, in which the correlation between subtests and number of items in the subtests was varied. The authors showed that these distributions provide reasonable approximations, even for tests consisting of subtests of only 10 items each. These results have practical value because researchers do not have to rely on extensive simulation studies to simulate sampling distributions. PMID:29881053

The Act of Answering Questions Elicited Differentiated Responses in a Concealed Information Test.

PubMed

Otsuka, Takuro; Mizutani, Mitsuyoshi; Yagi, Akihiro; Katayama, Jun'ichi

2018-04-17

The concealed information test (CIT), a psychophysiological detection of deception test, compares physiological responses between crime-related and crime-unrelated items. In previous studies, whether the act of answering questions affected physiological responses was unclear. This study examined effects of both question-related and answer-related processes on physiological responses. Twenty participants received a modified CIT, in which the interval between presentation of questions and answering them was 27 s. Differentiated respiratory movements and cardiovascular responses between items were observed for both questions (items) and answers, while differentiated skin conductance response was observed only for questions. These results suggest that physiological responses to questions reflected orientation to a crime-related item, while physiological responses during answering reflected inhibition of psychological arousal caused by orienting. Regarding the CIT's accuracy, participants' perception of the questions themselves more strongly influenced physiological responses than answering them. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Chlamydia testing and diagnosis following initiation of long-acting reversible contraception: A retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Rose, Sally B; Garrett, Susan M; Stanley, James; Pullon, Susan R H

2017-12-01

Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) effectively protects against pregnancy but provides no protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). To compare rates of chlamydia testing and diagnosis for women initiating long-acting versus oral contraception. Retrospective cohort study involving data collection for 6160 women initiating post-abortion contraception at a large New Zealand regional public hospital abortion clinic (2009-2012), with chlamydia testing data obtained from the local laboratory during two-year follow up. Negative binomial regression modelling examined the effect of contraceptive method on two outcome measures: chlamydia testing and chlamydia diagnosis (adjusting for potential covariates of age, ethnicity, past chlamydia infection, pregnancy history) in year one and two of follow up. Two thousand seven hundred and twenty nine women (44%) received a LARC and 1764 (28.6%) were prescribed oral contraception. Adjusted testing rates differed by contraceptive method only in year one (P < 0.01): with higher rates among copper intrauterine device users (relative risk (RR) 1.2, 95% CI 1.06-1.35), and lower rates for implant users (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.72-0.99) compared with oral contraceptive users (reference group). No significant differences were observed in chlamydia diagnosis rates by contraceptive method (P > 0.05). Younger age, past chlamydia infection, Maori and Pacific ethnicity were associated with higher rates of chlamydia diagnosis (P < 0.01). Known STI-related risk factors (age, ethnicity, past infection) but not contraceptive method were independently related to rates of subsequent chlamydia diagnosis. This suggests that increased LARC uptake would not occur at the expense of chlamydia control. Regular screening and risk reduction advice (including condom use) are important chlamydia control measures for at-risk groups. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Young Adults' Knowledge and Understanding of Personal Finance in Germany: Interviews with Experts and Test-Takers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Happ, Roland; Förster, Manuel; Rüspeler, Ann-Katrin; Rothweiler, Jasmin

2018-01-01

In recent years, the financial education of young adults has gained importance in Germany; however, very few valid test instruments to assess the knowledge and understanding of personal finance are suitable for use in Germany. In this article, we describe results of a survey in which experts in Germany in areas related to personal finance judged…

Measuring Emergent Organizational Properties: A Structural Equation Modeling Test of Self- versus Group-Referent Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goddard, Roger D.; LoGerfo, Laura F.

2007-01-01

This article presents a theoretical rationale and empirical evidence regarding the validity of scores obtained from two competing approaches to operationalizing scale items to measure emergent organizational properties. The authors consider whether items in scales intended to measure organizational properties should prompt survey takers to provide…

Analysis instrument test on mathematical power the material geometry of space flat side for grade 8

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kusmaryono, Imam; Suyitno, Hardi; Dwijanto, Karomah, Nur

2017-08-01

The main problem of research to determine the quality of test items on the material side of flat geometry to assess students' mathematical power. The method used is quantitative descriptive. The subjects were students of class 8 as many as 20 students. The object of research is the quality of test items in terms of the power of mathematics: validity, reliability, level of difficulty and power differentiator. Instrument mathematical power ratings are tested include: written tests and questionnaires about the disposition of mathematical power. Data were obtained from the field, in the form of test data on the material geometry of space flat side and questionnaires. The results of the test instrument to the reliability of the test item is influenced by many factors. Factors affecting the reliability of the instrument is the number of items, homogeneity test questions, the time required, the uniformity of conditions of the test taker, the homogeneity of the group, the variability problem, and motivation of the individual (person taking the test). Overall, the evaluation results of this study stated that the test instrument can be used as a tool to measure students' mathematical power.

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Test act system description

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

The engineering and fabrication of the test ACT system, produced in the third program element of the IAAC Project is documented. The system incorporates pitch-augmented stability and wing-load alleviation, plus full authority fly-by-wire control of the elevators. The pitch-augmented stability is designed to have reliability sufficient to allow flight with neutral or negative inherent longitudinal stability.

The 2003 Leona Tyler Award Address: Making Race a Matter of Individual Differences within Groups. Division 17

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helms, Janet E.

2004-01-01

The effects of race, defined as individual-difference variables, on Black test takers' performance on tests of cognitive ability, knowledge, and skills have not been investigated in the traditional scholarly testing literature. Moreover, the scholarly testing community has been unwilling to consider this alternative conceptualization of race as a…

Bio science: genetic genealogy testing and the pursuit of African ancestry.

PubMed

Nelson, Alondra

2008-10-01

This paper considers the extent to which the geneticization of 'race' and ethnicity is the prevailing outcome of genetic testing for genealogical purposes. The decoding of the human genome precipitated a change of paradigms in genetics research, from an emphasis on genetic similarity to a focus on molecular-level differences among individuals and groups. This shift from lumping to splitting spurred ongoing disagreements among scholars about the significance of 'race' and ethnicity in the genetics era. I characterize these divergent perspectives as 'pragmatism' and 'naturalism'. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, I argue that neither position fully accounts for how understandings of 'race' and ethnicity are being transformed with genetic genealogy testing. While there is some acquiescence to genetic thinking about ancestry, and by implication, 'race', among African-American and black British consumers of genetic genealogy testing, test-takers also adjudicate between sources of genealogical information and from these construct meaningful biographical narratives. Consumers engage in highly situated 'objective' and 'affiliative' self-fashioning, interpreting genetic test results in the context of their 'genealogical aspirations'. I conclude that issues of site, scale, and subjectification must be attended to if scholars are to understand whether and to what extent social identities are being transformed by recent developments in genetic science.

Stereotype Threat, Inquiring about Test Takers' Race and Gender, and Performance on Low-Stakes Tests in a Large-Scale Assessment. Research Report. ETS RR-15-02

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stricker, Lawrence J.; Rock, Donald A.; Bridgeman, Brent

2015-01-01

This study explores stereotype threat on low-stakes tests used in a large-scale assessment, math and reading tests in the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS). Issues identified in laboratory research (though not observed in studies of high-stakes tests) were assessed: whether inquiring about their race and gender is related to the…

The Affordable Care Act and genetic testing for inheritable cancer syndromes: impact on high-risk underserved minorities.

PubMed

Walcott, Farzana L; Dunn, Barbara K; DeShields, Mary; Baquet, Claudia

2014-02-01

Genetic testing for inheritable cancer syndromes is becoming a critical part of preventive health services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Essential Health Benefits package addresses breast cancer susceptibility-gene testing for women who are unaffected by cancer. The absence of provisions for 1) men, 2) cancer patients, 3) other inheritable cancer syndromes, and 4) risk-reducing interventions are limitations of PPACA. We discuss provisions and limitations of PPACA pertaining to genetic testing and effects on high-risk populations, in particular minorities. The PPACA is the beginning of an ongoing process of incorporating genetic testing in the armamentarium of cancer prevention. Future efforts should focus on ensuring equitable access to genetic testing as a preventive service under PPACA to high-risk populations other than women. Consideration should also be given to provisions for risk-reducing interventions, especially in underserved minority populations, who are known to underutilize genetic testing and may have limited financial resources for medical intervention.

Optimizing multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.

PubMed

Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon

2015-01-01

Answering multiple-choice questions with competitive alternatives can enhance performance on a later test, not only on questions about the information previously tested, but also on questions about related information not previously tested-in particular, on questions about information pertaining to the previously incorrect alternatives. In the present research, we assessed a possible explanation for this pattern: When multiple-choice questions contain competitive incorrect alternatives, test-takers are led to retrieve previously studied information pertaining to all of the alternatives in order to discriminate among them and select an answer, with such processing strengthening later access to information associated with both the correct and incorrect alternatives. Supporting this hypothesis, we found enhanced performance on a later cued-recall test for previously nontested questions when their answers had previously appeared as competitive incorrect alternatives in the initial multiple-choice test, but not when they had previously appeared as noncompetitive alternatives. Importantly, however, competitive alternatives were not more likely than noncompetitive alternatives to be intruded as incorrect responses, indicating that a general increased accessibility for previously presented incorrect alternatives could not be the explanation for these results. The present findings, replicated across two experiments (one in which corrective feedback was provided during the initial multiple-choice testing, and one in which it was not), thus strongly suggest that competitive multiple-choice questions can trigger beneficial retrieval processes for both tested and related information, and the results have implications for the effective use of multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.

"A Fair Go for All?" Australia's Language-in-Migration Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoang, Ngoc T. H.; Hamid, M. Obaidul

2017-01-01

As the power of tests lies in their uses, language tests that are used to assess immigration eligibility exercise enormous power. Critical Language Testing calls for exposing the power of tests by examining the intentions of introducing tests and their effects on individuals and society, especially from the perspective of test-takers. This case…

Analysis test of understanding of vectors with the three-parameter logistic model of item response theory and item response curves technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rakkapao, Suttida; Prasitpong, Singha; Arayathanitkul, Kwan

2016-12-01

This study investigated the multiple-choice test of understanding of vectors (TUV), by applying item response theory (IRT). The difficulty, discriminatory, and guessing parameters of the TUV items were fit with the three-parameter logistic model of IRT, using the parscale program. The TUV ability is an ability parameter, here estimated assuming unidimensionality and local independence. Moreover, all distractors of the TUV were analyzed from item response curves (IRC) that represent simplified IRT. Data were gathered on 2392 science and engineering freshmen, from three universities in Thailand. The results revealed IRT analysis to be useful in assessing the test since its item parameters are independent of the ability parameters. The IRT framework reveals item-level information, and indicates appropriate ability ranges for the test. Moreover, the IRC analysis can be used to assess the effectiveness of the test's distractors. Both IRT and IRC approaches reveal test characteristics beyond those revealed by the classical analysis methods of tests. Test developers can apply these methods to diagnose and evaluate the features of items at various ability levels of test takers.

75 FR 76468 - Agency Information Collection Request; 30-Day Public Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-08

... Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), HHS. In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c... members, and competency exam takers; and a Web-based survey of community college faculty. Estimated... Workforce program. Focus groups with Exam takers Competency exam 32 1 1.5 48 takers not enrolled in...

Taking Decisions: Assessment for University Entry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plassmann, Sibylle; Zeidler, Beate

2014-01-01

Language testing means taking decisions: about the test taker's results, but also about the test construct and the measures taken in order to ensure quality. This article takes the German test "telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule" as an example to illustrate this decision-making process in an academic context. The test is used for university…

Mathematics: Algebra and Geometry. GED Scoreboost.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyt, Cathy

GED "Scoreboost" materials target exactly the skills one needs to pass the General Educational Development (GED) tests. This book focuses on the GED Mathematics test. To prepare for the test, the test taker needs to learn skills in number and operation sense, data and statistics, geometry and measurement, and algebra. To pass the test,…

Helping Poor Readers Demonstrate Their Science Competence: Item Characteristics Supporting Text-Picture Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saß, Steffani; Schütte, Kerstin

2016-01-01

Solving test items might require abilities in test-takers other than the construct the test was designed to assess. Item and student characteristics such as item format or reading comprehension can impact the test result. This experiment is based on cognitive theories of text and picture comprehension. It examines whether integration aids, which…

South Carolina's Education Improvement Act: Is It Working?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Mike; And Others

South Carolina's response to the excellence literature of the early 1980s is called the Education Improvement Act (EIA). This act increased high school graduation requirements, required basic skills testing and standardized observation of teacher candidates, and mandated extensive competency testing and remediation of students. The EIA, like most…

Monitoring the Performance of Human and Automated Scores for Spoken Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Zhen; Zechner, Klaus; Sun, Yu

2018-01-01

As automated scoring systems for spoken responses are increasingly used in language assessments, testing organizations need to analyze their performance, as compared to human raters, across several dimensions, for example, on individual items or based on subgroups of test takers. In addition, there is a need in testing organizations to establish…

77 FR 63911 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-17

... (excluding SPY), the Exchange currently charges a taker fee of: (i) $0.37 per contract for Market Maker,\\6... order taker fee in the Select Symbols (excluding SPY) to $0.39 per contract for Firm Proprietary/Broker... to increase the complex order taker fee in SPY to $0.40 per contract for Firm Proprietary/Broker...

An Investigation into Pragmatic Knowledge in the Reading Section of TOLIMO, TOEFL, and IELTS Examinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karbalaei, Alireza; Rahmanzade, Mehrnaz Kashkooli

2015-01-01

The present study focused on the analysis of listening sections of two international English proficiency tests, i.e. IELTS and TOEFL tests, and one local English proficiency test, i.e. TOLIMO from pragmatic perspective. An attempt was made to explore the areas of pragmatic knowledge presented, and to assess test takers' pragmatic knowledge. For…

Does EFL Readers' Lexical and Grammatical Knowledge Predict Their Reading Ability? Insights from a Perceptron Artificial Neural Network Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aryadoust, Vahid; Baghaei, Purya

2016-01-01

This study aims to examine the relationship between reading comprehension and lexical and grammatical knowledge among English as a foreign language students by using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). There were 825 test takers administered both a second-language reading test and a set of psychometrically validated grammar and vocabulary tests.…

Validation of a Computerized Cognitive Assessment System for Persons with Stroke: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yip, Chi Kwong; Man, David W. K.

2009-01-01

This study investigates the validity of a newly developed computerized cognitive assessment system (CCAS) that is equipped with rich multimedia to generate simulated testing situations and considers both test item difficulty and the test taker's ability. It is also hypothesized that better predictive validity of the CCAS in self-care of persons…

Measuring Ability, Speed, or Both? Challenges, Psychometric Solutions, and What Can Be Gained from Experimental Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldhammer, Frank

2015-01-01

The main challenge of ability tests relates to the difficulty of items, whereas speed tests demand that test takers complete very easy items quickly. This article proposes a conceptual framework to represent how performance depends on both between-person differences in speed and ability and the speed-ability compromise within persons. Related…

Using Person Response Functions to Investigate Areas of Person Misfit Related to Item Characteristics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, A. Adrienne; Jennings, Jeremy Kyle; Engelhard, George, Jr.

2018-01-01

Individual person fit analyses provide important information regarding the validity of test score inferences for an "individual" test taker. In this study, we use data from an undergraduate statistics test (N = 1135) to illustrate a two-step method that researchers and practitioners can use to examine individual person fit. First, person…

Muscle Strength Endurance Testing Development Based Photo Transistor with Motion Sensor Ultrasonic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusdiana, A.

2017-03-01

The endurance of upper-body muscles is one of the most important physical fitness components. As technology develops, the process of test and assessment is now getting digital; for instance, there are a sensor stuck to the shoe (Foot Pod, Polar, and Sunto), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), radar, photo finish, kinematic analysis, and photocells. Those devices aim to analyze the performances and fitness of athletes particularly the endurance of arm, chest, and shoulder muscles. In relation to that, this study attempt to create a software and a hardware for pull-ups through phototransistor with ultrasonic motion sensor. Components needed to develop this device consist of microcontroller MCS-51, photo transistor, light emitting diode, buzzer, ultrasonic sensor, and infrared sensor. The infrared sensor is put under the buffer while the ultrasonic sensor is stuck on the upper pole. The components are integrated with an LED or a laptop made using Visual Basic 12 software. The results show that pull-ups test using digital device (mean; 9.4 rep) is lower than using manual calculation (mean; 11.3 rep). This is due to the fact that digital test requires the test-takers to do pull-ups perfectly.

Models for Scoring Missing Responses to Multiple-Choice Items. Program Statistics Research Technical Report No. 94-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longford, Nicholas T.

This study is a critical evaluation of the roles for coding and scoring of missing responses to multiple-choice items in educational tests. The focus is on tests in which the test-takers have little or no motivation; in such tests omitting and not reaching (as classified by the currently adopted operational rules) is quite frequent. Data from the…

Assessing cultural validity in standardized tests in stem education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gassant, Lunes

This quantitative ex post facto study examined how race and gender, as elements of culture, influence the development of common misconceptions among STEM students. Primary data came from a standardized test: the Digital Logic Concept Inventory (DLCI) developed by Drs. Geoffrey L. Herman, Michael C. Louis, and Craig Zilles from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The sample consisted of a cohort of 82 STEM students recruited from three universities in Northern Louisiana. Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data computation. Two key concepts, several sub concepts, and 19 misconceptions were tested through 11 items in the DLCI. Statistical analyses based on both the Classical Test Theory (Spearman, 1904) and the Item Response Theory (Lord, 1952) yielded similar results: some misconceptions in the DLCI can reliably be predicted by the Race or the Gender of the test taker. The research is significant because it has shown that some misconceptions in a STEM discipline attracted students with similar ethnic backgrounds differently; thus, leading to the existence of some cultural bias in the standardized test. Therefore the study encourages further research in cultural validity in standardized tests. With culturally valid tests, it will be possible to increase the effectiveness of targeted teaching and learning strategies for STEM students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. To some extent, this dissertation has contributed to understanding, better, the gap between high enrollment rates and low graduation rates among African American students and also among other minority students in STEM disciplines.

Evaluation of the CATSIB DIF Procedure in a Pretest Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nandakumar, Ratna; Roussos, Louis

2004-01-01

A new procedure, CATSIB, for assessing differential item functioning (DIF) on computerized adaptive tests (CATs) is proposed. CATSIB, a modified SIBTEST procedure, matches test takers on estimated ability and controls for impact-induced Type 1 error inflation by employing a CAT version of the IBTEST "regression correction." The…

Using the Voting Rights Act. Clearinghouse Publication 53.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, DC.

The Voting Rights Act contains different provisions, some of which apply throughout the country and some of which apply only in those states and local jurisdictions that meet the conditions and tests spelled out in the act. This booklet explains the general provisions of the act, including the following: voter qualifications, civil suits and…

Measuring Speed, Ability, or Motivation: A Comment on Goldhammer (2015)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhn, Jörg-Tobias; Ranger, Jochen

2015-01-01

In this commentary, Kuhn and Ranger hypothesize that most people are aware that talent does not guarantee success in case one is lazy. This is also true for the performance in achievement tests that depends on, among other factors, achievement potential (ability) and willingness to achieve (test-taking motivation) of the test taker. They add that…

Correcting the SAT's Ethnic and Social-Class Bias: A Method for Reestimating SAT Scores.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freedle, Roy O.

2003-01-01

A corrective scoring method, the Revised-Scholastic Achievement Test (R-SAT), addresses nonrandom ethnic test bias patterns found in the SAT. The R-SAT has been shown to reduce the mean-score difference between African-American and white test-takers by one-third, increase verbal scores by as much as 200-300 points for individuals, and benefit…

The Role of Lexical Properties and Cohesive Devices in Text Integration and Their Effect on Human Ratings of Speaking Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crossley, Scott; Clevinger, Amanda; Kim, YouJin

2014-01-01

There has been a growing interest in the use of integrated tasks in the field of second language testing to enhance the authenticity of language tests. However, the role of text integration in test takers' performance has not been widely investigated. The purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of text-based relational (i.e.,…

Examining Unusual Digit Span Performance in a Population of Postsecondary Students Assessed for Academic Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Allyson G.; Rosenblum, Yoni; Currie, Shannon

2010-01-01

Methods of identifying poor test-related motivation using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit Span subtest are based on identification of performance patterns that are implausible if the test taker is investing full effort. No studies to date, however, have examined the specificity of such measures, particularly when evaluating persons…

A knowledge-based theory of rising scores on "culture-free" tests.

PubMed

Fox, Mark C; Mitchum, Ainsley L

2013-08-01

Secular gains in intelligence test scores have perplexed researchers since they were documented by Flynn (1984, 1987). Gains are most pronounced on abstract, so-called culture-free tests, prompting Flynn (2007) to attribute them to problem-solving skills availed by scientifically advanced cultures. We propose that recent-born individuals have adopted an approach to analogy that enables them to infer higher level relations requiring roles that are not intrinsic to the objects that constitute initial representations of items. This proposal is translated into item-specific predictions about differences between cohorts in pass rates and item-response patterns on the Raven's Matrices (Flynn, 1987), a seemingly culture-free test that registers the largest Flynn effect. Consistent with predictions, archival data reveal that individuals born around 1940 are less able to map objects at higher levels of relational abstraction than individuals born around 1990. Polytomous Rasch models verify predicted violations of measurement invariance, as raw scores are found to underestimate the number of analogical rules inferred by members of the earlier cohort relative to members of the later cohort who achieve the same overall score. The work provides a plausible cognitive account of the Flynn effect, furthers understanding of the cognition of matrix reasoning, and underscores the need to consider how test-takers select item responses. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Self-acting geometry for noncontact seals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, G. P.

1981-01-01

Performance ot two self acting seal designs for a liquid oxygen (LOX) turbopump was predicted over ranges of pressure differential and speed. Predictions were compared with test results. Performance of a radial face seal for LOX was predicted up to 448 N/cu cm and 147 m/sec. Performance of a segmented circumferential seal for helium was predicted up to 69 N/cu cm and 189 m/sec. Results confirmed predictions of noncontact operation. Qualitative agreement between test and analysis was found. The LOX face seal evidently operated with mostly liquid in the self acting geometry and mostly gas across the dam.

State Test Programs Mushroom as NCLB Mandate Kicks in: Nearly Half of States Are Expanding Their Testing Programs to Additional Grades This School Year to Comply with the Federal No Child Left Behind Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Lynn

2005-01-01

Twenty-three states are expanding their testing programs to additional grades this school year to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In devising the new tests, most states have defied predictions and chosen to go beyond multiple-choice items, by including questions that ask students to construct their own responses. But many state…

Ticket taker automation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-03-01

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) requires an ODOT employee to collect weigh slips from delivery vehicles on road construction. These delivery vehicles may be hauling asphalt mix or aggregates. The person, usually a temporary employee, i...

Association of gastric acid and mucus secretion level with low-dose aspirin-induced gastropathy.

PubMed

Iijima, Katsunori; Ara, Nobuyuki; Abe, Yasuhiko; Koike, Tomoyuki; Iwai, Wataru; Iwabuchi, Toshimitsu; Ichikawa, Takafumi; Kamata, Yayoi; Ishihara, Kazuhiko; Shimosegawa, Tooru

2012-02-01

Low-dose aspirin is known to cause upper gastrointestinal complications. The mechanism by which the aspirin disrupts gastric mucosal integrity remains to be clarified. In this study we investigated the temporal association of gastric secretory parameters (acid and mucus) with aspirin-induced gastropathy. In 42 long-term low-dose aspirin-takers and the same number of sex- and age-matched controls, pentagastrin-stimulated gastric juice was collected for 10 min during endoscopic examination. The collected gastric juice was divided and half was submitted to analysis for gastric acid (mEq/10 min) and the other half was analyzed for mucin (mg hexose/10 min) output. The grade of gastric mucosal injury was assessed endoscopically according to the modified Lanza score, and a score of more than 4 was defined as the presence of severe gastropathy. While gastric acid secretion did not differ significantly between aspirin-takers and controls, gastric mucus secretion, in terms of mucin output, was significantly increased in aspirin-takers compared to controls (4.1 (SD 4.8) vs. 2.3 (1.4) mg hexose/10 min, P < 0.05). Consequently, the acid/mucin ratio was significantly decreased in aspirin-takers compared to controls (1.2 (1.0) vs. 1.7 (1.4), P < 0.05). In the subanalysis of 25 aspirin-takers without severe gastropathy, gastric mucus secretion was increased and the acid/mucus ratio was decreased compared with controls, but there was no such association in the remaining 17 aspirin-takers with severe gastropathy. Overall, gastric mucus secretion is increased in aspirin-takers, suggesting a functional adaptive response to long-term administration of the drug. However, it is possible that the adaptive response is impaired in some aspirin takers, who might be susceptible to severe upper gastrointestinal complication.

Learning and Individual Differences: An Ability/Information-Processing Framework for Skill Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-15

state of the test -taker (e.g., time-of-day, arousal level; see Revelle, Humphreys, Simon, & Gilliland, 1980) and the psychological state of the test ...the psychology of individual differences. Test directions almost never tell the examinee how to approach the task. Theoretically, style of performance...J. (1949). Essentials of psychological testing . New York: Harper & Row. Cronbach. L. J. (1984). Essentials of psychological testing (4th edition

76 FR 41497 - Privacy Act System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-14

...Pursuant to subsection (e)(4) of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a, the FCC proposes to alter one system of records, FCC/OSP-1, ``Broadband Dead Zone Report and Consumer Broadband Test.'' The altered system of records incorporates more details about the voluntary fixed and mobile consumer broadband test. The FCC will also alter the categories of individuals; categories of records; the purposes for which the information is maintained; the retrievability procedures; Routine Use (5); and delete Routine Use (2); and make other edits and revisions as necessary to update the information and to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

Raters' L2 Background as a Potential Source of Bias in Rating Oral Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winke, Paula; Gass, Susan; Myford, Carol

2013-01-01

Based on evidence that listeners may favor certain foreign accents over others (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Major, Fitzmaurice, Bunta, & Balasubramanian, 2002; Tauroza & Luk, 1997) and that language-test raters may better comprehend and/or rate the speech of test takers whose native languages (L1s) are more familiar on some level (Carey,…

The effect of lab based instruction on ACT science scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Michelle

Standardized tests, although unpopular, are required for a multitude of reasons. One of these tests is the ACT. The ACT is a college readiness test that many high school juniors take to gain college admittance. Students throughout the United States are unprepared for this assessment. The average high school junior is three points behind twenty-four, the ACT recommended score, for the science section. The science section focuses on reading text and, interpreting graphs, charts, tables and diagrams with an emphasis on experimental design and relationships among variables. For students to become better at interpreting and understanding scientific graphics they must have vast experience developing their own graphics. The purpose of this study was to provide students the opportunity to generate their own graphics to master interpretation of them on the ACT. According to a t-test the results show that students who are continually exposed to creating graphs are able to understand and locate information from graphs at a significantly faster rate.

The impact of note taking style and note availability at retrieval on mock jurors' recall and recognition of trial information.

PubMed

Thorley, Craig; Baxter, Rebecca E; Lorek, Joanna

2016-01-01

Jurors forget critical trial information and what they do recall can be inaccurate. Jurors' recall of trial information can be enhanced by permitting them to take notes during a trial onto blank sheets of paper (henceforth called freestyle note taking). A recent innovation is the trial-ordered-notebook (TON) for jurors, which is a notebook containing headings outlining the trial proceedings and which has space beneath each heading for notes. In a direct comparison, TON note takers recalled more trial information than freestyle note takers. This study investigated whether or not note taking improves recall as a result of enhanced encoding or as a result of note access at retrieval. To assess this, mock jurors watched and freely recalled a trial video with one-fifth taking no notes, two-fifths taking freestyle notes and two-fifths using TONs. During retrieval, half of the freestyle and TON note takers could access their notes. Note taking enhanced recall, with the freestyle note takers and TON note takers without note access performing equally as well. Note taking therefore enhances encoding. Recall was greatest for the TON note takers with note access, suggesting a retrieval enhancement unique to this condition. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Acting Administrator Lightfoot Visits Ball Aerospace

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-06

Acting NASA Deputy Administrator Lesa Roe, second from left, and acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, second from left, are seen with Mike Gazarik, vice president of Engineering at Ball Aerospace, left and Shawn Conley, test operations manager at Ball Aerospace, left, in front of the large semi-anechoic chamber, Thursday, April 6, 2017 during a visit to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colo. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Investigating Causal DIF via Propensity Score Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yan; Zumbo, Bruno D.; Gustafson, Paul; Huang, Yi; Kroc, Edward; Wu, Amery D.

2016-01-01

A variety of differential item functioning (DIF) methods have been proposed and used for ensuring that a test is fair to all test takers in a target population in the situations of, for example, a test being translated to other languages. However, once a method flags an item as DIF, it is difficult to conclude that the grouping variable (e.g.,…

Development of Predicted Paths for ACT Aspire Score Reports. WP-2014-06

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Jeff

2014-01-01

This report focuses on the initial development of the predicted score paths for ACT Aspire reporting. The paths provide predicted score ranges for the next two years--as well as predicted ACT score ranges for tests administered at grades 9 and 10. Longitudinal ACT Aspire data for students tested in spring 2013 and spring 2014, as well as…

Consequences of Violated Equating Assumptions under the Equivalent Groups Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyren, Per-Erik; Hambleton, Ronald K.

2011-01-01

The equal ability distribution assumption associated with the equivalent groups equating design was investigated in the context of a selection test for admission to higher education. The purpose was to assess the consequences for the test-takers in terms of receiving improperly high or low scores compared to their peers, and to find strong…

Measuring Motivation in Low-Stakes Assessments. Research Report. ETS RR-15-19

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finn, Bridgid

2015-01-01

There is a growing concern that when scores from low-stakes assessments are reported without considering student motivation as a construct of interest, biased conclusions about how much students know will result. Low motivation is a problem particularly relevant to low-stakes testing scenarios, which may be low stakes for the test taker but have…

Construct-Driven SJTs: Toward an Agenda for Future Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lievens, Filip

2017-01-01

A common theme running through recent research on Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) and this special issue is the aim to improve the measurement of constructs via SJTs. Construct-driven SJTs differ from traditional SJTs in that they present a trait activating situation to test-takers and a more unidimensional set of response options that depict…

Small-Sample Equating with Prior Information. Research Report. ETS RR-09-25

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Livingston, Samuel A.; Lewis, Charles

2009-01-01

This report proposes an empirical Bayes approach to the problem of equating scores on test forms taken by very small numbers of test takers. The equated score is estimated separately at each score point, making it unnecessary to model either the score distribution or the equating transformation. Prior information comes from equatings of other…

Clean Water Act Analytical Methods

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA publishes laboratory analytical methods (test procedures) that are used by industries and municipalities to analyze the chemical, physical and biological components of wastewater and other environmental samples required by the Clean Water Act.

Methods for Examining the Psychometric Quality of Subscores: A Review and Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wedman, Jonathan; Lyrén, Per-Erik

2015-01-01

When subscores on a test are reported to the test taker, the appropriateness of reporting them depends on whether they provide useful information above what is provided by the total score. Subscores that fail to do so lack adequate psychometric quality and should not be reported. There are several methods for examining the quality of subscores,…

A Simple Answer to a Simple Question on Changing Answers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bridgeman, Brent

2012-01-01

In an article in the Winter 2011 issue of the "Journal of Educational Measurement", van der Linden, Jeon, and Ferrara suggested that "test takers should trust their initial instincts and retain their initial responses when they have the opportunity to review test items." They presented a complex IRT model that appeared to show that students would…

"Score Choice": A Tempest in a Teapot?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoover, Eric

2009-01-01

A new option that allows students to choose which of their test scores to send to colleges has generated renewed criticism of the College Board. College Board officials tout the option, called Score Choice, as a way to ease test taker anxiety. Some prominent admissions officials have publicly described Score Choice as a sales tactic that will…

Lecture attendance improves success in medical physiology.

PubMed

Demir, Enver Ahmet; Tutuk, Okan; Dogan, Hatice; Egeli, Duygu; Tumer, Cemil

2017-12-01

The educators have underlined the importance of lecture attendance for decades. Nowadays, students have ample online educational sources, which began a debate on the necessity of in-class lectures. In the present study, we investigated the influence of lecture attendance on the exam success. To this aim, we adopted a novel approach and matched second-year medicine students' answers in three interim exams with the lectures related to those questions. Thereby, we were able to evaluate if attending lectures increases the chance of giving a correct answer to the exam question generated from the attended lecture. Furthermore, we examined students who had never taken the course before (first-time takers) and students who had failed and repeated the course (repeat takers) separately, since repeat takers may have attended a lecture previously. We found that first-time takers attended more lectures and gained higher total scores than repeat takers. Lecture-matched correct answers were significantly higher for attended lectures than for skipped lectures in all interim exams. Moreover, the correlation analyses revealed that the number of correct answers increases by lecture attendance in both first-time and repeat takers. These results indicate that in-class lectures still should be considered as an essential part of the medical physiology education, even in the internet era. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

JPL Activated Carbon Treatment System (ACTS) for sewage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

An Activated Carbon Treatment System (ACTS) was developed for sewage treatment and is being applied to a one-million gallon per day sewage treatment pilot plant in Orange County California. Activities reported include pyrolysis and activation of carbon-sewage sludge, and activated carbon treatment of sewage to meet ocean discharge standards. The ACTS Sewage treatment operations include carbon-sewage treatment, primary and secondary clarifiers, gravity (multi-media) filter, filter press dewatering, flash drying of carbon-sewage filter cake, and sludge pyrolysis and activation. Tests were conducted on a laboratory scale, 10,000 gallon per day demonstration plant and pilot test equipment. Preliminary economic studies are favorable to the ACTS process relative to activated sludge treatment for a 175,000,000 gallon per day sewage treatment plant.

Effect of two additional interventions, test and reflection, added to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on seventh grade students' practical skills and willingness to act: a cluster randomised trial.

PubMed

Nord, Anette; Hult, Håkan; Kreitz-Sandberg, Susanne; Herlitz, Johan; Svensson, Leif; Nilsson, Lennart

2017-06-23

The aim of this research is to investigate if two additional interventions, test and reflection, after standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training facilitate learning by comparing 13-year-old students' practical skills and willingness to act. Seventh grade students in council schools of two municipalities in south-east Sweden. School classes were randomised to CPR training only (O), CPR training with a practical test including feedback (T) or CPR training with reflection and a practical test including feedback (RT). Measures of practical skills and willingness to act in a potential life-threatening situation were studied directly after training and at 6 months using a digital reporting system and a survey. A modified Cardiff test was used to register the practical skills, where scores in each of 12 items resulted in a total score of 12-48 points. The study was conducted in accordance with current European Resuscitation Council guidelines during December 2013 to October 2014. 29 classes for a total of 587 seventh grade students were included in the study. The total score of the modified Cardiff test at 6 months was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were the total score directly after training, the 12 individual items of the modified Cardiff test and willingness to act. At 6 months, the T and O groups scored 32 (3.9) and 30 (4.0) points, respectively (p<0.001), while the RT group scored 32 (4.2) points (not significant when compared with T). There were no significant differences in willingness to act between the groups after 6 months. A practical test including feedback directly after training improved the students' acquisition of practical CPR skills. Reflection did not increase further CPR skills. At 6-month follow-up, no intervention effect was found regarding willingness to make a life-saving effort. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use

Effect of two additional interventions, test and reflection, added to standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation training on seventh grade students’ practical skills and willingness to act: a cluster randomised trial

PubMed Central

Nord, Anette; Hult, Håkan; Kreitz-Sandberg, Susanne; Herlitz, Johan; Svensson, Leif; Nilsson, Lennart

2017-01-01

Objectives The aim of this research is to investigate if two additional interventions, test and reflection, after standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training facilitate learning by comparing 13-year-old students’ practical skills and willingness to act. Settings Seventh grade students in council schools of two municipalities in south-east Sweden. Design School classes were randomised to CPR training only (O), CPR training with a practical test including feedback (T) or CPR training with reflection and a practical test including feedback (RT). Measures of practical skills and willingness to act in a potential life-threatening situation were studied directly after training and at 6 months using a digital reporting system and a survey. A modified Cardiff test was used to register the practical skills, where scores in each of 12 items resulted in a total score of 12–48 points. The study was conducted in accordance with current European Resuscitation Council guidelines during December 2013 to October 2014. Participants 29 classes for a total of 587 seventh grade students were included in the study. Primary and secondary outcome measures The total score of the modified Cardiff test at 6 months was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were the total score directly after training, the 12 individual items of the modified Cardiff test and willingness to act. Results At 6 months, the T and O groups scored 32 (3.9) and 30 (4.0) points, respectively (p<0.001), while the RT group scored 32 (4.2) points (not significant when compared with T). There were no significant differences in willingness to act between the groups after 6 months. Conclusions A practical test including feedback directly after training improved the students’ acquisition of practical CPR skills. Reflection did not increase further CPR skills. At 6-month follow-up, no intervention effect was found regarding willingness to make a life-saving effort. PMID:28645953

Implicit Goalkeeper Influences on Goal Side Selection in Representative Penalty Kicking Tasks

PubMed Central

Noël, Benjamin; van der Kamp, John; Memmert, Daniel

2015-01-01

In well-controlled lab situations, marginal displacements of the goalkeeper on the goal line affect goal side selection of penalty takers implicitly, that is, without the penalty takers being consciously aware of the displacement. Whether this effect is retained in more representative real-life situations with competing goalkeepers and penalty takers has not been verified. In the current study, penalty takers were instructed to position the goalkeepers at the centre of the goal. They then performed penalty kicks adopting either a keeper independent or a keeper dependent strategy, while goalkeepers actually attempted to save the ball by strategically diving early or late. Analyses of trials in which penalty takers failed to place the goalkeeper in the centre of the goal (although they incorrectly believed they placed the goalkeeper at the centre of the goal) showed that implicit influences of the goalkeeper’s position on goal side selection were overridden by the (conscious) perception of the direction of the goalkeeper’s dive, but only if the penalty takers deliberately monitored the goalkeeper’s action and the goalkeeper committed early enough for penalty takers to respond. In all other combinations of penalty kick and goalkeeper strategies more than 60% of the kicks were directed to the side of the goal with more space. Most importantly, however, the current study shows that influences of implicit perception on the penalty takers’ decision making are rather pervasive considering that many supraliminal sources of information were available. That is, the current study demonstrates that implicit perception retains its influence on decision-making even if other (stronger) stimuli are also present. PMID:26267378

Prevalence of Malaria Parasitemia and Purchase of Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies (ACTs) among Drug Shop Clients in Two Regions in Tanzania with ACT Subsidies

PubMed Central

Briggs, Melissa A.; Kalolella, Admirabilis; Bruxvoort, Katia; Wiegand, Ryan; Lopez, Gerard; Festo, Charles; Lyaruu, Pierre; Kenani, Mitya; Abdulla, Salim; Goodman, Catherine; Kachur, S. Patrick

2014-01-01

Background Throughout Africa, many people seek care for malaria in private-sector drug shops where diagnostic testing is often unavailable. Recently, subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), a first-line medication for uncomplicated malaria, were made available in these drug shops in Tanzania. This study assessed the prevalence of malaria among and purchase of ACTs by drug shop clients in the setting of a national ACT subsidy program and sub-national drug shop accreditation program. Method and Findings A cross-sectional survey of drug shop clients was performed in two regions in Tanzania, one with a government drug shop accreditation program and one without, from March-May, 2012. Drug shops were randomly sampled from non-urban districts. Shop attendants were interviewed about their education, training, and accreditation status. Clients were interviewed about their symptoms and medication purchases, then underwent a limited physical examination and laboratory testing for malaria. Malaria prevalence and predictors of ACT purchase were assessed using univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression. Amongst 777 clients from 73 drug shops, the prevalence of laboratory-confirmed malaria was 12% (95% CI: 6–18%). Less than a third of clients with malaria had purchased ACTs, and less than a quarter of clients who purchased ACTs tested positive for malaria. Clients were more likely to have purchased ACTs if the participant was <5 years old (aOR: 6.6; 95% CI: 3.9–11.0) or the shop attendant had >5 years, experience (aOR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.2–6.3). Having malaria was only a predictor of ACT purchase in the region with a drug shop accreditation program (aOR: 3.4; 95% CI: 1.5–7.4). Conclusion Malaria is common amongst persons presenting to drug shops with a complaint of fever. The low proportion of persons with malaria purchasing ACTs, and the high proportion of ACTs going to persons without malaria demonstrates a need to better target who receives

Prevalence of malaria parasitemia and purchase of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) among drug shop clients in two regions in Tanzania with ACT subsidies.

PubMed

Briggs, Melissa A; Kalolella, Admirabilis; Bruxvoort, Katia; Wiegand, Ryan; Lopez, Gerard; Festo, Charles; Lyaruu, Pierre; Kenani, Mitya; Abdulla, Salim; Goodman, Catherine; Kachur, S Patrick

2014-01-01

Throughout Africa, many people seek care for malaria in private-sector drug shops where diagnostic testing is often unavailable. Recently, subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), a first-line medication for uncomplicated malaria, were made available in these drug shops in Tanzania. This study assessed the prevalence of malaria among and purchase of ACTs by drug shop clients in the setting of a national ACT subsidy program and sub-national drug shop accreditation program. A cross-sectional survey of drug shop clients was performed in two regions in Tanzania, one with a government drug shop accreditation program and one without, from March-May, 2012. Drug shops were randomly sampled from non-urban districts. Shop attendants were interviewed about their education, training, and accreditation status. Clients were interviewed about their symptoms and medication purchases, then underwent a limited physical examination and laboratory testing for malaria. Malaria prevalence and predictors of ACT purchase were assessed using univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression. Amongst 777 clients from 73 drug shops, the prevalence of laboratory-confirmed malaria was 12% (95% CI: 6-18%). Less than a third of clients with malaria had purchased ACTs, and less than a quarter of clients who purchased ACTs tested positive for malaria. Clients were more likely to have purchased ACTs if the participant was <5 years old (aOR: 6.6; 95% CI: 3.9-11.0) or the shop attendant had >5 years, experience (aOR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.2-6.3). Having malaria was only a predictor of ACT purchase in the region with a drug shop accreditation program (aOR: 3.4; 95% CI: 1.5-7.4). Malaria is common amongst persons presenting to drug shops with a complaint of fever. The low proportion of persons with malaria purchasing ACTs, and the high proportion of ACTs going to persons without malaria demonstrates a need to better target who receives ACTs in these drug shops.

Norm-Referenced Tests and Race-Blind Admissions: The Case for Eliminating the SAT and ACT at the University of California. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.15.17

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geiser, Saul

2017-01-01

Of all college admission criteria, scores on nationally normed tests like the SAT and ACT are most affected by the socioeconomic background of the student. The effect of socioeconomic background on test scores has grown substantially at University of California over the past two decades, and tests have become more of a barrier to admission of…

Learning and Individual Differences: An Ability/Information - Processing Framework for Skill Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-15

1992, Journal of Applied Psychology ).] This study represented an attempt to extend and test the Ackerman (1988) theory of the cognitive ability...both the physical state of the test -taker (e.g., time-of-day, arousal level; see Revelle, Humphreys, Simon, & Gilliland, 1980) and the psychological ...little consideration in the psychology of individual differences. -. Test directions almost never tell the examinee how to approach the task. Theoretically

The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Empirical Findings: A Report of the Watson-Glaser for the 2009-2010 Test Takers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadhi, T.; Palasota, A.; Holley, D.; Rudley, D.

2010-01-01

The following report gives the statistical findings of the 2009-2010 Watson-Glaser test. Data is pre-existing and was given to the Evaluator by email from the Director, Center for Legal Pedagogy. Statistical analyses were run using SPSS 17 to address the following questions: 1. What are the statistical descriptors of the Watson-Glaser results of…

ACTS of Education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, Robert; Krawczyk, Richard; Gargione, Frank; Kruse, Hans; Vrotsos, Pete (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Now in its ninth year of operations, the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) program has continued, although since May 2000 in a new operations arrangement involving a university based consortium, the Ohio Consortium for Advanced Communications Technology (OCACT), While NASA has concluded its experimental intentions of ACTS, the spacecraft's ongoing viability has permitted its further operations to provide educational opportunities to engineering and communications students interested in satellite operations, as well as a Ka-band test bed for commercial interests in utilizing Kaband space communications. The consortium has reached its first year of operations. This generous opportunity by NASA has already resulted in unique educational opportunities for students in obtaining "hands-on" experience, such as, in satellite attitude control. An update is presented on the spacecraft and consortium operations.

Forecasting Advancement Rates to Petty Officer Third Class for U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

variable. c. Designation of Data Subsets for Cross-Validation In order to maintain the integrity of the analysis and test the fitted models’ predictive...two models, an H-L goodness-of-fit test is conducted on the 1,524 individual Sailors within the designated test data set; the results of which are...the total number of sea months, the proportion of vacancies to test takers, Armed Forces Qualification Test score, and performance mark average

College Student Profiles: Norms for the ACT Assessment, 1980-81 Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawyer, Richard L.

Extensive normative information are presented on about 455,170 college freshmen entering college in 1979 at 1,099 institutions participating in the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment Program. Norms are provided for males and females on ACT test scores and high school grades by college type, affiliation, and geographic region, and by student…

ACT Plan: Technical Manual. 2013/2014

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

This manual contains information about the American College Test (ACT) Plan® program. The principal focus of this manual is to document the Plan program's technical adequacy in light of its intended purposes. This manual supersedes the 2011 edition. The content of this manual responds to requirements of the testing industry as established in the…

Validating Cognitive Models of Task Performance in Algebra on the SAT®. Research Report No. 2009-3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gierl, Mark J.; Leighton, Jacqueline P.; Wang, Changjiang; Zhou, Jiawen; Gokiert, Rebecca; Tan, Adele

2009-01-01

The purpose of the study is to present research focused on validating the four algebra cognitive models in Gierl, Wang, et al., using student response data collected with protocol analysis methods to evaluate the knowledge structures and processing skills used by a sample of SAT test takers.

Multicultural Counseling Competencies: Lessons from Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitaoka, Sean Kia i

2005-01-01

This article addresses multicultural counseling competencies from the perspective of quantitative assessment. A conceptual review of the current measures identifies 4 relevant issues: (a) diverse factor structures, (b) the working definition of multicultural awareness, (c) test takers' frame of reference, and (d) the implications of an inclusive…

Prompt and Rater Effects in Second Language Writing Performance Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Gad S.

2009-01-01

Performance assessments have become the norm for evaluating language learners' writing abilities in international examinations of English proficiency. Two aspects of these assessments are usually systematically varied: test takers respond to different prompts, and their responses are read by different raters. This raises the possibility of undue…

The Use of Summarization Tasks: Some Lexical and Conceptual Analyses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Guoxing

2013-01-01

This article reports the lexical diversity of summaries written by experts and test takers in an empirical study and then interrogates the (in)congruity between the conceptualisations of "summary" and "summarize" in the literature of educational research and the operationalization of summarization tasks in three international…

Acting Administrator Lightfoot Visits Ball Aerospace

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-06

Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, center, is seen during a visit to the environmental test facilities at Ball Aerospace, Thursday, April 6, 2017 in Boulder, Colo. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Was it easy to use an Asthma Control Test (ACT) in different clinical practice settings in a tertiary hospital in Singapore?

PubMed

Prabhakaran, Lathy; Earnest, Arul; Abisheganaden, John; Chee, Jane

2009-12-01

The Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a 5-item self-administered tool designed to assess asthma control. It is said to be simple, easy and can be administered quickly by patients in the clinical practice setting. This stated benefit has yet to be demonstrated in our local clinical practice setting. The aim was to identify factors associated with difficulty in the administration of the ACT in different clinical practice settings in a tertiary hospital in Singapore. This is a prospective study performed from April to June 2008. All patients diagnosed with asthma and referred to an asthma nurse from the in-patient and out-patient clinical practice setting in Tan Tock Seng Hospital were enrolled. Four hundred and thirty-four patients were asked to complete the ACT tool. In the univariate model, we found that age, clinical setting and medical history to be significantly associated with the completion of the ACT. The odds of completion decreased by a factor of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.94) for every year's increase in age, and this was statistically significant (P <0.001). Similarly, the odds ratio of completion for those with more than 3 medical conditions by history were 0.59 (95% CI, 0.48 to 0.71) as compared to those with less than 3 medical conditions by history, and this was also significant (P <0.001). In the multivariate model, we only found age to be an independent and significant factor. After adjusting for age, none of the other variables initially significant in the univariate model remained significant. The results show that the ACT was simple and easy to be administered in younger-aged patients.

Motivation Classification and Grade Prediction for MOOCs Learners

PubMed Central

Xu, Bin; Yang, Dan

2016-01-01

While MOOCs offer educational data on a new scale, many educators find great potential of the big data including detailed activity records of every learner. A learner's behavior such as if a learner will drop out from the course can be predicted. How to provide an effective, economical, and scalable method to detect cheating on tests such as surrogate exam-taker is a challenging problem. In this paper, we present a grade predicting method that uses student activity features to predict whether a learner may get a certification if he/she takes a test. The method consists of two-step classifications: motivation classification (MC) and grade classification (GC). The MC divides all learners into three groups including certification earning, video watching, and course sampling. The GC then predicts a certification earning learner may or may not obtain a certification. Our experiment shows that the proposed method can fit the classification model at a fine scale and it is possible to find a surrogate exam-taker. PMID:26884747

Motivation Classification and Grade Prediction for MOOCs Learners.

PubMed

Xu, Bin; Yang, Dan

2016-01-01

While MOOCs offer educational data on a new scale, many educators find great potential of the big data including detailed activity records of every learner. A learner's behavior such as if a learner will drop out from the course can be predicted. How to provide an effective, economical, and scalable method to detect cheating on tests such as surrogate exam-taker is a challenging problem. In this paper, we present a grade predicting method that uses student activity features to predict whether a learner may get a certification if he/she takes a test. The method consists of two-step classifications: motivation classification (MC) and grade classification (GC). The MC divides all learners into three groups including certification earning, video watching, and course sampling. The GC then predicts a certification earning learner may or may not obtain a certification. Our experiment shows that the proposed method can fit the classification model at a fine scale and it is possible to find a surrogate exam-taker.

A comparison of the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts after calving in cows also given internal teat sealants.

PubMed

Whitfield, L K; Laven, R A

2018-01-01

To compare, in cows treated with an internal teat sealant, the effect of short-acting and long-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy on somatic cell counts (SCC) after calving. Cows from a spring-calving, pasture-based dairy farm in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand were randomly allocated to receive either a short-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=291) or a long-acting cloxacillin and ampicillin dry-cow therapy and internal teat sealant (n=288) at the end of lactation. Cows were managed on-farm with routine husbandry procedures through the dry period and following calving. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine the association between length of action of dry-cow therapy and the proportion of cows with a SCC >150,000 cells/mL at the first herd test after calving. Age of cow, mean SCC for the preceding season and interval from calving to the first post-calving herd test were all associated with the proportion of cows with an individual SCC >150,000 cells/mL at the first herd test (p<0.001) Treatment with the short-acting dry-cow therapy was not associated with decreased odds of cows having a SCC >150,000 cells/mL at the first herd test compared with treatment with long-acting dry-cow therapy (OR=0.724; 95% CI=0.40-1.30). In this herd, which routinely used internal teat sealants, the use of short-acting cloxacillin-based dry-cow therapy did not result in an increased proportion of cows with elevated SSC post-calving. This was a single farm, single year study but indicates that in this herd, changing from a long-acting to a short-acting antimicrobial may have no impact on the prevalence of subclinical mastitis.

Differences between the Relationship of L1 Learners' Performance in Integrated Writing with Both Independent Listening and Independent Reading Cognitive Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheong, Choo Mui; Zhu, Xinhua; Liao, Xian

2018-01-01

In recent decades, integrated language competence has been highlighted in the language curricula taught in schools and institutions, and the relationship between test-takers' performance on integrated tasks and comprehension sources has been much studied. The current study employed the frameworks of reading and listening comprehension processes to…

Using Multiple Methods to Investigate Eleven-Year-Olds' Experiences of Preparing for a High-Stakes Public Examination in Trinidad and Tobago

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Lisle, Jerome; McMillan-Solomon, Sabrina

2017-01-01

This study was designed to uncover and evaluate unintended and indirect consequences of using the "Secondary Entrance Assessment" ("SEA") in Trinidad and Tobago for high-stakes selection and placement. A major argument is that the test-taker is central to consequences, both intended and unintended. Data were obtained from…

Performance of Automated Speech Scoring on Different Low- to Medium-Entropy Item Types for Low-Proficiency English Learners. Research Report. ETS RR-17-12

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loukina, Anastassia; Zechner, Klaus; Yoon, Su-Youn; Zhang, Mo; Tao, Jidong; Wang, Xinhao; Lee, Chong Min; Mulholland, Matthew

2017-01-01

This report presents an overview of the "SpeechRater"? automated scoring engine model building and evaluation process for several item types with a focus on a low-English-proficiency test-taker population. We discuss each stage of speech scoring, including automatic speech recognition, filtering models for nonscorable responses, and…

The Log-Linear Cognitive Diagnostic Model (LCDM) as a Special Case of The General Diagnostic Model (GDM). Research Report. ETS RR-14-40

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

von Davier, Matthias

2014-01-01

Diagnostic models combine multiple binary latent variables in an attempt to produce a latent structure that provides more information about test takers' performance than do unidimensional latent variable models. Recent developments in diagnostic modeling emphasize the possibility that multiple skills may interact in a conjunctive way within the…

78 FR 69414 - Toxic Substances Control Act Chemical Testing; Receipt of Test Data

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-19

... Chemical Testing; Receipt of Test Data AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice announces EPA's receipt of test data on 1- propanesulfonic acid, 2-hydroxy-3-(2-propen-1-yloxy)-, sodium salt (1:1). These data were submitted pursuant to a test rule issued by EPA...

The Pathology Laboratory Act 2007 explained.

PubMed

Looi, Lai-Meng

2008-06-01

The past century has seen tremendous changes in the scope and practice of pathology laboratories in tandem with the development of the medical services in Malaysia. Major progress was made in the areas of training and specialization of pathologists and laboratory technical staff. Today the pathology laboratory services have entered the International arena, and are propelled along the wave of globalization. Many new challenges have emerged as have new players in the field. Landmark developments over the past decade include the establishment of national quality assurance programmes, the mushrooming of private pathology laboratories, the establishment of a National Accreditation Standard for medical testing laboratories based on ISO 15189, and the passing of the Pathology Laboratory Act in Parliament in mid-2007. The Pathology Laboratory Act 2007 seeks to ensure that the pathology laboratory is accountable to the public, meets required standards of practice, participates in Quality Assurance programmes, is run by qualified staff, complies with safety requirements and is subject to continuous audit. The Act is applicable to all private laboratories (stand alone or hospital) and laboratories in statutory bodies (Universities, foundations). It is not applicable to public laboratories (established and operated by the government) and side-room laboratories established in clinics of registered medical or dental practitioners for their own patients (tests as in the First and Second Schedules respectively). Tests of the Third Schedule (home test blood glucose, urine glucose, urine pregnancy test) are also exempted. The Act has 13 Parts and provides for control of the pathology laboratory through approval (to establish and maintain) and licensing (to operate or provide). The approval or license may only be issued to a sole proprietor, partnership or body corporate, and then only if the entity includes a registered medical practitioner. Details of personnel qualifications and

Feasibility of remote administration of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) skills test.

PubMed

Okrainec, Allan; Vassiliou, Melina; Kapoor, Andrew; Pitzul, Kristen; Henao, Oscar; Kaneva, Pepa; Jackson, Timothy; Ritter, E Matt

2013-11-01

Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) certification testing currently is offered at accredited test centers or at select surgical conferences. Maintaining these test centers requires considerable investment in human and financial resources. Additionally, it can be challenging for individuals outside North America to become FLS certified. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of remotely administering and scoring the FLS examination using live videoconferencing compared with standard onsite testing. This parallel mixed-methods study used both FLS scoring data and participant feedback to determine the barriers to feasibility of remote proctoring for the FLS examination. Participants were tested at two accredited FLS testing centers. An official FLS proctor administered and scored the FLS exam remotely while another onsite proctor provided a live score of participants' performance. Participant feedback was collected during testing. Interrater reliabilities of onsite and remote FLS scoring data were compared using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Participant feedback was analyzed using modified grounded theory to identify themes for barriers to feasibility. The scores of the remote and onsite proctors showed excellent interrater reliability in the total FLS (ICC 0.995, CI [0.985-0.998]). Several barriers led to critical errors in remote scoring, but most were accompanied by a solution incorporated into the study protocol. The most common barrier was the chain of custody for exam accessories. The results of this pilot study suggest that remote administration of the FLS has the potential to decrease costs without altering test-taker scores or exam validity. Further research is required to validate protocols for remote and onsite proctors and to direct execution of these protocols in a controlled environment identical to current FLS test administration.

The Sensitivity of the ACT to Instruction. Issues in College Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2005

2005-01-01

The ACT is an educational achievement test that measures the typical content and skills learned from college preparatory curricula. Consequently, the ACT can be used not only to predict college success, but also to provide direct feedback to high school teachers about the effectiveness of their teaching. ACT results also assist teachers in…

ACTS 118x Final Report High-Speed TCP Interoperability Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivancic, William D.; Zernic, Mike; Hoder, Douglas J.; Brooks, David E.; Beering, Dave R.; Welch, Arun

1999-01-01

With the recent explosion of the Internet and the enormous business opportunities available to communication system providers, great interest has developed in improving the efficiency of data transfer using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) of the Internet Protocol (IP) suite. The satellite system providers are interested in solving TCP efficiency problems associated with long delays and error-prone links. Similarly, the terrestrial community is interested in solving TCP problems over high-bandwidth links. Whereas the wireless community is interested in improving TCP performance over bandwidth constrained, error-prone links. NASA realized that solutions had already been proposed for most of the problems associated with efficient data transfer over large bandwidth-delay links (which include satellite links). The solutions are detailed in various Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFCs). Unfortunately, most of these solutions had not been tested at high-speed (155+ Mbps). Therefore, the NASA's ACTS experiments program initiated a series of TCP experiments to demonstrate scalability of TCP/IP and determine how far the protocol can be optimized over a 622 Mbps satellite link. These experiments were known as the 118i and 118j experiments. During the 118i and 118j experiments, NASA worked closely with SUN Microsystems and FORE Systems to improve the operating system, TCP stacks. and network interface cards and drivers. We were able to obtain instantaneous data throughput rates of greater than 520 Mbps and average throughput rates of 470 Mbps using TCP over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) over a 622 Mbps Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) OC12 link. Following the success of these experiments and the successful government/industry collaboration, a new series of experiments. the 118x experiments. were developed.

Do later wake times and increased sleep duration of 12th graders result in more studying, higher grades, and improved SAT/ACT test scores?

PubMed

Cole, James S

2016-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep duration, wake time, and hours studying on high school grades and performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)/ American College Testing (ACT) college entrance exams. Data were collected from 13,071 recently graduated high school seniors who were entering college in the fall of 2014. A column proportions z test with a Bonferroni adjustment was used to analyze proportional differences. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine mean group differences. Students who woke up prior to 6 a.m. and got less than 8 h of sleep (27 %) were significantly more likely to report studying 11 or more hours per week (30 %), almost double the rate compared to students who got more than 8 h of sleep and woke up the latest (16 %). Post hoc results revealed students who woke up at 7 a.m. or later reported significantly higher high school grades than all other groups (p < 0.001), with the exception of those students who woke up between 6:01 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. and got eight or more hours of sleep. The highest reported SAT/ACT scores were from the group that woke up after 7 a.m. but got less than 8 h sleep (M = 1099.5). Their scores were significantly higher than all other groups. This study provides additional evidence that increased sleep and later wake time are associated with increased high school grades. However, this study also found that students who sleep the longest also reported less studying and lower SAT/ACT scores.

Buprenorphine detection in hair samples by immunometric screening test: preliminary experience.

PubMed

Svaizer, Fiorenza; Lotti, Andrea; Gottardi, Massimo; Miozzo, Maria Pia

2010-03-20

The recent introduction of buprenorphine use by the Drug Addiction Services has induced toxicology laboratories to develop new qualitative or semiquantitative screening assay for its determination in hair samples. The aim of this preliminary study was to verify the correlation between the buprenorphine intake and the immunometric screening test results (VMA-T Comedical and buprenorphine CEDIA/Thermo-Fisher/Microgenics reagents) and therefore their comparison with the liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) results. Hair samples were obtained from 32 subjects without buprenorphine-therapy reported and 17 in treatment. In glass test tube with hermetic cap were weighed 33 mg of 49 finely cut hair samples, washed with 1 mL of SLV-VMA-T washing solution, which is then completely sucked and eliminated. The samples were extracted with 400 microL of VMA-T reagent for an hour at 100 degrees C. The extracts were analysed by immunometric screening test on ILab 650 chemistry analyser, using buprenorphine CEDIA reagent assay. From the 32 non-takers of drug, 30 semiquantitative results were less than 10 pg/mg and 2 were over 10 pg/mg; from the 17 subjects with therapy, all were over 10 pg/mg (range 13-50 pg/mg); no samples were false-negative. Results suggest that exist a good relationship between the administration of buprenorphine and its concentration in hair, detectable through this method and reagents line. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associations between MMPI-2-RF validity scale scores and extra-test measures of personality and psychopathology.

PubMed

Forbey, Johnathan D; Lee, Tayla T C; Ben-Porath, Yossef S; Arbisi, Paul A; Gartland, Diane

2013-08-01

The current study explored associations between two potentially invalidating self-report styles detected by the Validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), over-reporting and under-reporting, and scores on the MMPI-2-RF substantive, as well as eight collateral self-report measures administered either at the same time or within 1 to 10 days of MMPI-2-RF administration. Analyses were conducted with data provided by college students, male prisoners, and male psychiatric outpatients from a Veterans Administration facility. Results indicated that if either an over- or under-reporting response style was suggested by the MMPI-2-RF Validity scales, scores on the majority of the MMPI-2-RF substantive scales, as well as a number of collateral measures, were significantly affected in all three groups in the expected directions. Test takers who were identified as potentially engaging in an over- or under-reporting response style by the MMPI-2-RF Validity scales appeared to approach extra-test measures similarly regardless of when these measures were administered in relation to the MMPI-2-RF. Limitations and suggestions for future study are discussed.

ACTS Operational Performance Review: September 1995

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krawczyk, Richard J.

1996-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) utilized a proven spacecraft bus with a payload that qualified new technologies to provide a wide range of on-orbit demonstrations. A comprehensive development, qualification and ground test program was implemented to reduce technology risks. Since launch in September, 1993, and insertion into its geostationary slot ACTS has accumulated over 16,000 hours of successful operation. This paper briefly reviews the technology development background then provides a summary of the operational performance observed for the spacecraft bus and communication payload subsystems and units.

Assessing K-5 Teacher Leaders' Mathematical Understanding: What Have the Test Makers and the Test Takers Learned?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellington, Aimee J.; Whitenack, Joy W.; Inge, Vickie L.; Murray, Megan K.; Schneider, Patti J.

2012-01-01

This article describes the design and implementation of an assessment instrument for Numbers and Operations, the first course in a program to train elementary mathematics specialists. We briefly describe the course and its content, and then we elaborate on the process we used to develop the assessment instrument and the corresponding rubric for…

Probing the Relative Importance of Different Attributes in L2 Reading and Listening Comprehension Items: An Application of Cognitive Diagnostic Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yi, Yeon-Sook

2017-01-01

The present study examines the relative importance of attributes within and across items by applying four cognitive diagnostic assessment models. The current study utilizes the function of the models that can indicate inter-attribute relationships that reflect the response behaviors of examinees to analyze scored test-taker responses to four forms…

Cognitive Validity: Can Multiple-Choice Items Tap Historical Thinking Processes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Mark D.

2017-01-01

Cognitive validity examines the relationship between what an assessment aims to measure and what it actually elicits from test takers. The present study examined whether multiple-choice items from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grade 12 U.S. history exam elicited the historical thinking processes they were designed to…

Contextualizing Performances: Comparing Performances during TOEFL iBT™ and Real-Life Academic Speaking Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Lindsay; Swain, Merrill

2014-01-01

In this study we compare test takers' performance on the Speaking section of the TOEFL iBT™and their performances during their real-life academic studies. Thirty international graduate students from mixed language backgrounds in two different disciplines (Sciences and Social Sciences) responded to two independent and four integrated speaking tasks…

77 FR 49046 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-15

... (``maker/taker fees and rebates'') in 101 options classes (the ``Select Symbols'').\\3\\ The Exchange also... Symbols''). \\3\\ Options classes subject to maker/taker fees and rebates are identified by their ticker.... (``PEP''), SandRidge Energy, Inc. (``SD''), Union Pacific Corporation (``UNP''), United Technologies...

76 FR 70202 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-10

... excessive. The proposed rule change reflects a competitive pricing structure designed to incent market... the proposed maker/taker spread was competitive with other market centers maker/ taker spreads (BATS.... The Exchange also notes that it operates in a highly competitive market in which market participants...

Applying Computerized Adaptive Testing to the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised: Rasch Analysis of Workplace Bullying

PubMed Central

Ma, Shu-Ching; Li, Yu-Chi; Yui, Mei-Shu

2014-01-01

Background Workplace bullying is a prevalent problem in contemporary work places that has adverse effects on both the victims of bullying and organizations. With the rapid development of computer technology in recent years, there is an urgent need to prove whether item response theory–based computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can be applied to measure exposure to workplace bullying. Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative efficiency and measurement precision of a CAT-based test for hospital nurses compared to traditional nonadaptive testing (NAT). Under the preliminary conditions of a single domain derived from the scale, a CAT module bullying scale model with polytomously scored items is provided as an example for evaluation purposes. Methods A total of 300 nurses were recruited and responded to the 22-item Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). All NAT (or CAT-selected) items were calibrated with the Rasch rating scale model and all respondents were randomly selected for a comparison of the advantages of CAT and NAT in efficiency and precision by paired t tests and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results The NAQ-R is a unidimensional construct that can be applied to measure exposure to workplace bullying through CAT-based administration. Nursing measures derived from both tests (CAT and NAT) were highly correlated (r=.97) and their measurement precisions were not statistically different (P=.49) as expected. CAT required fewer items than NAT (an efficiency gain of 32%), suggesting a reduced burden for respondents. There were significant differences in work tenure between the 2 groups (bullied and nonbullied) at a cutoff point of 6 years at 1 worksite. An AUROC of 0.75 (95% CI 0.68-0.79) with logits greater than –4.2 (or >30 in summation) was defined as being highly likely bullied in a workplace. Conclusions With CAT-based administration of the NAQ-R for nurses, their burden was substantially

16 CFR § 1512.18 - Tests and test procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... of the down tube and seat mast. (ii) Post test: The optical axis of the reflector shall remain... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Tests and test procedures. § 1512.18... ACT REGULATIONS REQUIREMENTS FOR BICYCLES Regulations § 1512.18 Tests and test procedures. (a) Sharp...

Branded by a Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popham, W. James

2006-01-01

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Program (ACT) scores are the main determinants of college entrance in the USA. It is widely assumed that these tests are predictive of success both during college and in later life, but such views are incorrect. Another widely-held view, held by many educators, is that the SAT and ACT are…

Acoustics Characteristics of Voice and Vocal Care in Acting and Other Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varosanec-Skaric, Gordana

2008-01-01

Based on voice-history data, a X[superscript 2] test was used to investigate the difference between students of acting (n = 45) and other students (n = 45). A t-test was used to calculate the differences in acoustic parameters between the two groups. It was expected that students of acting spent significantly more time practicing voice exercises,…

78 FR 14554 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-06

... Project Formative Research for the Development of CDC's Act Against AIDS Social Marketing Campaigns... period to develop various social marketing campaigns aimed at increasing HIV testing rates, increasing... social marketing campaigns under the umbrella of the larger Act Against AIDS campaign. The campaigns will...

7 CFR 28.482 - United States Cotton Futures Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false United States Cotton Futures Act. 28.482 Section 28... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards General § 28.482 United States Cotton Futures Act. The cotton standards contained in § 28.301 through § 28.603 of this part shall be effective for...

7 CFR 28.482 - United States Cotton Futures Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false United States Cotton Futures Act. 28.482 Section 28... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards General § 28.482 United States Cotton Futures Act. The cotton standards contained in § 28.301 through § 28.603 of this part shall be effective for...

7 CFR 28.482 - United States Cotton Futures Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false United States Cotton Futures Act. 28.482 Section 28... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards General § 28.482 United States Cotton Futures Act. The cotton standards contained in § 28.301 through § 28.603 of this part shall be effective for...

7 CFR 28.482 - United States Cotton Futures Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false United States Cotton Futures Act. 28.482 Section 28... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards General § 28.482 United States Cotton Futures Act. The cotton standards contained in § 28.301 through § 28.603 of this part shall be effective for...

7 CFR 28.482 - United States Cotton Futures Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false United States Cotton Futures Act. 28.482 Section 28... REGULATIONS COTTON CLASSING, TESTING, AND STANDARDS Standards General § 28.482 United States Cotton Futures Act. The cotton standards contained in § 28.301 through § 28.603 of this part shall be effective for...

Lessons from NCLB for the Every Student Succeeds Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathis, William J.; Trujillo, Tina M.

2016-01-01

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced the No Child Left Behind Act with great fanfare and enthusiasm. Granting more power to states and curbing what was seen as federal overreach was well received. However, the new legislation maintains a predominately test-based accountability system with a federal mandate for interventions in well over…

Are doctors risk takers?

PubMed

Pikkel, Dvora; Pikkel Igal, Yael Sara; Sharabi-Nov, Adi; Pikkel, Joseph

2016-01-01

Risk taking affects human behavior in general and decisions in medicine in particular. We used game theory to assess physicians' risk-taking tendencies. Physicians were recruited to the study by advertisement. It was explained that they would receive a sum of money for correct prediction of the flipping of a coin. They could try to sell their opportunity to flip the coin for an amount of money they determined. The sum offered by the participants was considered an indicator of risk taking. A demographic questionnaire assessed age, sex, seniority, and area of specialization of the participants. A multivariate analysis assessed associations between risk-taking behavior and, seniority, and specialization. Sixty-two physicians participated, 36 males and 26 females, seniority 1-34 years. Of a possible range of 0-10, the mean score for risk taking was 5.5 - just slightly more than indifference. Negative correlations were found between risk taking and seniority, and between risk taking and age (β =-0.45, P<0.001 for both). Surgeons and anesthesiologists showed greater risk taking than did other physicians (β =0.69, P<0.05); and females less than males, though the latter correlation was not statistically significant. Understanding the tendency of physicians to risk taking may elucidate their decision-making processes and contribute to understanding of causes of adverse events and to the education of physicians.

Interactions of short-acting, intermediate-acting and pre-mixed human insulins with free radicals--Comparative EPR examination.

PubMed

Olczyk, Paweł; Komosinska-Vassev, Katarzyna; Ramos, Paweł; Mencner, Łukasz; Olczyk, Krystyna; Pilawa, Barbara

2015-07-25

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to examine insulins interactions with free radicals. Human recombinant DNA insulins of three groups were studied: short-acting insulin (Insuman Rapid); intermediate-acting insulins (Humulin N, Insuman Basal), and pre-mixed insulins (Humulin M3, Gensulin M50, Gensulin M40, Gensulin M30). The aim of an X-band (9.3GHz) study was comparative analysis of antioxidative properties of the three groups of human insulins. DPPH was used as a stable free radical model. Amplitudes of EPR lines of DPPH as the paramagnetic free radical reference, and DPPH interacting with the individual tested insulins were compared. For all the examined insulins kinetics of their interactions with free radicals up to 60 min were obtained. The strongest interactions with free radicals were observed for the short-acting insulin - Insuman Rapid. The lowest interactions with free radicals were characteristic for intermediate-acting insulin - Insuman Basal. The pre-mixed insulins i.e. Humulin M3 and Gensulin M50 revealed the fastest interactions with free radicals. The short acting, intermediate acting and premixed insulins have been found to be effective agents in reducing free radical formation in vitro and should be further considered as potential useful tools in attenuation of oxidative stress in diabetic patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing the effects of long-acting steroids in edema and ecchymosis after closed rhinoplasty

PubMed Central

Gutierrez, Santiago; Wuesthoff, Carolina

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Steroids have proven to be of some benefit in rhinoplasty edema and ecchymosis when administered at a high and repeated dose. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of single-dose, long-acting intramuscular steroids on postoperative edema and ecchymosis after closed rhinoplasty with osteotomies compared with placebo. METHODS: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was performed. Fifty-four patients were randomly assigned to two groups: 28 received a single dose of long-acting dexamethasone (mean [± SD] dose 16±4 mg) immediately before anesthetic induction; the remaining 26 received an intramuscular injection of saline solution. The same surgeon performed all surgeries, with patients under general anesthesia. Acetaminophen was the only analgesic used to control postoperative pain. High-resolution digital photographs were taken on postoperative days 1, 3, 7 and 14. Scoring was performed separately for eyelid swelling and ecchymosis by an independent observer using a graded scale (0 to 5) for edema and a scoring system (0 to 13) for ecchymosis. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences in terms of age, sex or amount of bleeding during surgery were found between the two groups. No statistically significant difference was observed in the decrease of both ecchymosis and edema between placebo and high-dose, long-acting dexamethasone. A statistically significant difference in operation time was found, favouring the steroid group. No severe complications were observed due to steroid use. DISCUSSION: Osteotomies are basically a form of (controlled) trauma, with considerable disruption of the abundant blood vessels in this facial region and, therefore, are associated with with undesirable effects. A recent meta-analysis failed to show benefits of the use of steroids after postoperative day 3. Only a trend toward reduction in edema and ecchymosis with the use of long-acting steroids compared with placebo was demonstrated in the present study

SAT and ACT Predict College GPA after Removing "g"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coyle, Thomas R.; Pillow, David R.

2008-01-01

This research examined whether the SAT and ACT would predict college grade point average (GPA) after removing g from the tests. SAT and ACT scores and freshman GPAs were obtained from a university sample (N=161) and the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N=8984). Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among g, GPA,…

The Effectiveness of Song Technique in Teaching Paper Based TOEFL (PBT)'s Listening Comprehension Section

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuswoyo, Heri

2013-01-01

Among three sections that follow the Paper-Based TOEFL (PBT), many test takers find listening comprehension section is the most difficult. Thus, in this research the researcher aims to explore how students learn PBT's listening comprehension section effectively through song technique. This sounds like a more interesting and engaging way to learn…

The Relationship among Health Education Systems, Inc. Progression and Exit Examination Scores, Day or Evening Enrollment, Final Grade Point Average and NCLEX-RN® Success in Associate Degree Nursing Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnwell-Sanders, Pamela

2015-01-01

Graduates of associate degree (AD) nursing programs form the largest segment of first-time National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN®) test takers, yet also experience the highest rate of NCLEX-RN® failures. NCLEX-RN® failure delays entry into the profession, adding an emotional and financial toll to the unsuccessful…

The Devil Is in the Details: Evidence from the GED on the Role of Examination System Details in Determining Who Passes. NCSALL Reports #16.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyler, John H.; Murnane, Richard J.; Willett, John B.

A study used data from a long-standing examination system, the General Educational Development (GED) certificate, to illustrate that the details of examination systems have marked impacts on the number of test takers who obtain the desired credential and on the racial/ethnic composition of passers. Data provided by the Florida Department of…

The Civic Purposes of Public Schools. Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Mary

This report examines the current state of citizenship instruction in U.S. schools, how we teach American citizenship, and what citizenship education looks like in California. The National Assessment of Educational Progress civics assessment determined that one-third of test-takers were below proficient and only one-fifth were at proficient level.…

Preparing MSW Students for Social Work Licensure: A Curricular Case Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, J. Jay; Grise-Owens, Erlene; Escobar-Ratliff, Laura

2015-01-01

Licensing has been a dynamic tension for the social work profession for many years, specifically in social work education. Increasingly, social work programs are using factors related to social work licensing (pass rates, number of test takers, etc.) as an indicator of programmatic success. Yet few, if any, published papers examine curricular…

Bender Gestalt Signs and Anti-Social Acting Out Tendencies in Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brannigan, Gary G.; Benowity, Martin L.

1975-01-01

This study explores the relationship between performance on the Bender-Gestalt test and antisocial acting out tendencies in adolescents. Results indicate that uneven figure size and exaggerated curvature are the best indicators of antisocial acting out tendencies. (Author)

Radon Testing for Safe Schools Act. Report (To Accompany S. 1697) from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress, Second Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

This report was written to accompany the Radon Testing for Safe Schools Act (S.1697), a bill that provides for radon testing of schools located in high risk radon areas and provides limited financial assistance to schools for mitigation of high levels of radon. A description of radon, its harmful effects, and the radon levels detected in schools…

Acting Administrator Lightfoot Visits Ball Aerospace

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-06

Leanne Presley, Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) program manager at Ball Aerospace, left, speaks with acting NASA Deputy Administrator Lesa Roe, center, and acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot in front of a thermal vacuum chamber used to test satellite optics, Thursday, April 6, 2017 during a visit to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colo. The Operation Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) is being build for Landsat 9, a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that will continue the Landsat Program's 40-year data record of monitoring the Earth's landscapes from space. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Acting White: A Critical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sohn, Kitae

2011-01-01

The hypothesis of acting White has been heatedly debated and influential over the last 20 years or so in explaining the Black-White test score gap. Recently, economists have joined the debate and started providing new theoretical and empirical analyses of the phenomenon. This paper critically reviews the arguments that have been advanced to…

Development of self-acting seals for helicopter engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lynwander, P.

1974-01-01

An experimental evaluation of a NASA-designed self-acting face seal for use in advanced gas turbine main shaft positions was conducted. The seal incorporated Rayleigh step pads (self-acting geometry) for lift augmentation. Satisfactory performance of the gas film seal was demonstrated in a 500-hour endurance test at speeds to 183 m/s (600 ft/sec, 54,000 rpm) and air pressure differential of 137 newtons per square centimeter (198.7 psi). Carbon wear was minor. Tests were also conducted with seal seat runout greater than that expected in engine operation and in a severe sand and dust environment. Seal operation was satisfactory in both these detrimental modes of operation.

MTU America Inc. Clean Air Act Settlement

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The settlement resolves an enforcement action by EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice against MTU for Clean Air Act (CAA) violations involving MTU’s failure to comply with certain testing, certification and reporting.

Degree/Graduation Outcomes: Ohio Public and Private Colleges and Universities. 2008 Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio Board of Regents, 2008

2008-01-01

This report displays, in tabular format, the following information: (1) Degrees and Certificates Awarded in Fiscal Years 2002-2006 at Ohio's Public, Independent, and Proprietary Institutions; (2) PRAXIS II and PRAXIS III Pass Rates--2005 Academic Year; (3) Three Year Pass Rates (2005-2007) on Health Care Examinations for First-Time Test-Takers;…

Optimizing the Compatibility between Rating Scales and Measures of Productive Second Language Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, Christopher

2011-01-01

This study presents a systematic investigation concerning the performance of different rating scales used in the English section of a university entrance examination to assess 1,287 Japanese test takers' ability to write a third-person introduction speech. Although the rating scales did not conform to all of the expectations of the Rasch model,…

Privacy Act

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn about the Privacy Act of 1974, the Electronic Government Act of 2002, the Federal Information Security Management Act, and other information about the Environmental Protection Agency maintains its records.

ACT Profile Report: State. Graduating Class 2012. New Hampshire

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2012

2012-01-01

This report provides information about the performance of New Hampshire's 2012 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2012 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in…

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Federal Facilities

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures.

Authentic and Play-Acted Vocal Emotion Expressions Reveal Acoustic Differences

PubMed Central

Jürgens, Rebecca; Hammerschmidt, Kurt; Fischer, Julia

2011-01-01

Play-acted emotional expressions are a frequent aspect in our life, ranging from deception to theater, film, and radio drama, to emotion research. To date, however, it remained unclear whether play-acted emotions correspond to spontaneous emotion expressions. To test whether acting influences the vocal expression of emotion, we compared radio sequences of naturally occurring emotions to actors’ portrayals. It was hypothesized that play-acted expressions were performed in a more stereotyped and aroused fashion. Our results demonstrate that speech segments extracted from play-acted and authentic expressions differ in their voice quality. Additionally, the play-acted speech tokens revealed a more variable F0-contour. Despite these differences, the results did not support the hypothesis that the variation was due to changes in arousal. This analysis revealed that differences in perception of play-acted and authentic emotional stimuli reported previously cannot simply be attributed to differences in arousal, but by slight and implicitly perceptible differences in encoding. PMID:21847385

75 FR 34499 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-17

... maker/taker pricing program. The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web... qualification standards for market makers to receive a rebate under the Exchange's maker/taker pricing program... trading month for series trading between $0.03 and $5.00 in premium. \\8\\ The concept of incenting market...

77 FR 69905 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-21

... (``maker/taker fees and rebates'') in 93 options classes (the ``Select Symbols'').\\3\\ The Exchange's maker... Non-Select Penny Pilot Symbols'').\\6\\ \\3\\ Options classes subject to maker/taker fees and rebates are.... 66084 (January 3, 2012), 77 FR 1103 (January 9, 2012) (SR-ISE-2011-84); 66392 (February 14, 2012), 77 FR...

Defense Threat Reduction Agency > Home > DTRA No Fear Act Reporting

Science.gov Websites

FOIA Electronic Reading Room Privacy Impact Assessment DTRA No Fear Act Reporting Nuclear Test Personnel Review NTPR Fact Sheets NTPR Radiation Dose Assessment Documents US Atmospheric Nuclear Test History Documents US Underground Nuclear Test History Reports NTPR Radiation Exposure Reports Enewetak

ACTE Wing Loads Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horn, Nicholas R.

2015-01-01

The Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) project modified a Gulfstream III (GIII) aircraft with a new flexible flap that creates a seamless transition between the flap and the wing. As with any new modification, it is crucial to ensure that the aircraft will not become overstressed in flight. To test this, Star CCM a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software program was used to calculate aerodynamic data for the aircraft at given flight conditions.

The Relationship of Item-Level Response Times with Test-Taker and Item Variables in an Operational CAT Environment. LSAC Research Report Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swygert, Kimberly A.

In this study, data from an operational computerized adaptive test (CAT) were examined in order to gather information concerning item response times in a CAT environment. The CAT under study included multiple-choice items measuring verbal, quantitative, and analytical reasoning. The analyses included the fitting of regression models describing the…

The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Empirical Findings: A Report of the Relationship between Graduate GPAs and First-Time Texas Bar Scores of February 2010 and July 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadhi, T.; Holley, D.; Palasota, A.

2010-01-01

The following report gives descriptive and correlational statistical findings of the Grade Point Averages (GPAs) of the February 2010 and July 2009 TMSL First Time Texas Bar Test Takers to their TMSL Final GPA. Data was pre-existing and was given to the Evaluator by email from the Dean and Registrar. Statistical analyses were run using SPSS 17 to…

The Adolescentizing of the GED

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rachal, John R.; Bingham, Millard J.

2004-01-01

The changing demographic population of GED test-takers from the period of returning World War II veterans to today's younger, recent high school dropouts invites debate as to whether GED instruction should utilize methods of adult education. The growth trends in the U. S. from 1989 to 2001 indicate increasing numbers of 16- and 17-year-olds…

Refining Success and Dropout in Massive Open Online Courses Based on the Intention-Behavior Gap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderikx, Maartje A.; Kreijns, Karel; Kalz, Marco

2017-01-01

In this paper we present an alternative typology for determining success and dropout in massive open online courses (MOOCs). This typology takes the perspectives of MOOC-takers into account and is based on the their intentions and subsequent behaviour. An explorative study using two MOOCs was carried out to test the applicability of the typology.…

A Conditional Joint Modeling Approach for Locally Dependent Item Responses and Response Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meng, Xiang-Bin; Tao, Jian; Chang, Hua-Hua

2015-01-01

The assumption of conditional independence between the responses and the response times (RTs) for a given person is common in RT modeling. However, when the speed of a test taker is not constant, this assumption will be violated. In this article we propose a conditional joint model for item responses and RTs, which incorporates a covariance…

Modeling Answer Change Behavior: An Application of a Generalized Item Response Tree Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeon, Minjeong; De Boeck, Paul; van der Linden, Wim

2017-01-01

We present a novel application of a generalized item response tree model to investigate test takers' answer change behavior. The model allows us to simultaneously model the observed patterns of the initial and final responses after an answer change as a function of a set of latent traits and item parameters. The proposed application is illustrated…

Topical Trends in a Corpus of Persuasive Writing. Research Report. ETS RR-12-19

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heilman, Michael; Madnani, Nitin

2012-01-01

Many writing assessments use generic prompts about social issues. However, we currently lack an understanding of how test takers respond to such prompts. In the absence of such an understanding, automated scoring systems may not be as reliable as they could be and may worsen over time. To move toward a deeper understanding of responses to generic…

Impeding Students' Efforts to Cheat in Online Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hearn Moore, Paula; Head, J. Derrick; Griffin, Richard B.

2017-01-01

This paper identifies several methods a student could use to cheat while enrolled in an online course. Problems encountered in conducting an online course and in administering an online exam involve: (1) identifying the test taker, (2) preventing the theft of the exam, (3) combating the unauthorized use of textbooks and/or notes, (4) preparing an…

The Effects of Item Preview on Video-Based Multiple-Choice Listening Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koyama, Dennis; Sun, Angela; Ockey, Gary J.

2016-01-01

Multiple-choice formats remain a popular design for assessing listening comprehension, yet no consensus has been reached on how multiple-choice formats should be employed. Some researchers argue that test takers must be provided with a preview of the items prior to the input (Buck, 1995; Sherman, 1997); others argue that a preview may decrease the…

An Investigation of NCLEX-PN Performance and Student Perceptions among Practical Nursing Graduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abston-Coleman, Sharon L.; Levy, Dessie R.

2010-01-01

Students in practical nursing programs require 32 weeks of coursework (1 academic year) and completion of a national licensing exam (NCLEX-PN) to secure employment. The purpose of this study was to identify selected academic variables that were related to NCLEX-PN performance for first-time test takers of two types of practical nursing programs at…

Modeling Skipped and Not-Reached Items Using IRTrees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Debeer, Dries; Janssen, Rianne; De Boeck, Paul

2017-01-01

When dealing with missing responses, two types of omissions can be discerned: items can be skipped or not reached by the test taker. When the occurrence of these omissions is related to the proficiency process the missingness is nonignorable. The purpose of this article is to present a tree-based IRT framework for modeling responses and omissions…

Viability of Construct Validity of the Speaking Modules of International Language Examinations (IELTS vs. TOEFL iBT): Evidence from Iranian Test-Takers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zahedi, Keivan; Shamsaee, Saeedeh

2012-01-01

The aim of the present research is to examine the viability of the construct validity of the speaking modules of two internationally recognized language proficiency examinations, namely IELTS and TOEFL iBT. High-stake standardized tests play a crucial and decisive role in determining the future academic life of many people. Overall obtained scores…

Differential Item Functioning (DIF) among Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) in State Science Tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilich, Maria O.

Psychometricians and test developers evaluate standardized tests for potential bias against groups of test-takers by using differential item functioning (DIF). English language learners (ELLs) are a diverse group of students whose native language is not English. While they are still learning the English language, they must take their standardized tests for their school subjects, including science, in English. In this study, linguistic complexity was examined as a possible source of DIF that may result in test scores that confound science knowledge with a lack of English proficiency among ELLs. Two years of fifth-grade state science tests were analyzed for evidence of DIF using two DIF methods, Simultaneous Item Bias Test (SIBTest) and logistic regression. The tests presented a unique challenge in that the test items were grouped together into testlets---groups of items referring to a scientific scenario to measure knowledge of different science content or skills. Very large samples of 10, 256 students in 2006 and 13,571 students in 2007 were examined. Half of each sample was composed of Spanish-speaking ELLs; the balance was comprised of native English speakers. The two DIF methods were in agreement about the items that favored non-ELLs and the items that favored ELLs. Logistic regression effect sizes were all negligible, while SIBTest flagged items with low to high DIF. A decrease in socioeconomic status and Spanish-speaking ELL diversity may have led to inconsistent SIBTest effect sizes for items used in both testing years. The DIF results for the testlets suggested that ELLs lacked sufficient opportunity to learn science content. The DIF results further suggest that those constructed response test items requiring the student to draw a conclusion about a scientific investigation or to plan a new investigation tended to favor ELLs.

Neuronal NOS inhibitor 1-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-imidazole augment the effects of antidepressants acting via serotonergic system in the forced swimming test in rats.

PubMed

Ulak, Güner; Mutlu, Oguz; Akar, Füruzan Yildiz; Komsuoğlu, F Ipek; Tanyeri, Pelin; Erden, B Faruk

2008-10-01

Treatment-resistant depression has necessitated new therapeutic strategies in augmenting the therapeutic actions of currently existing antidepressant drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of synergistic interaction between 1-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)-imidazole (TRIM), a novel neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor and conventional antidepressants of different classes in the forced swimming test (FST) in rats. TRIM decreased the immobility time at 50 mg/kg doses in the FST in rats. Treatment with a behaviourally subeffective dose of TRIM (20 mg/kg) augmented the behavioural effect of tricyclic antidepressant imipramine, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram and fluoxetine or selective serotonin reuptake enhancer tianeptine but failed to augment the antidepressant effect of reboxetine, a noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor, in this test. Therefore inhibition of NOS augments the effects of antidepressants acting on serotonergic system in the FST. Neither TRIM (10-50 mg/kg) nor other drug treatments affected the locomotor activity of animals. These findings are in agreement with the view that antidepressant effects or augmentation of these effects in the FST may be explained with inhibition of NOS activity and this may be a new approach in offering greater therapeutic efficacy of antidepressants acting via serotonergic system.

76 FR 27117 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-10

... exchange-traded fund (``ETF'') option classes traded on C2. Currently, transactions fees as set out in the... maker rebate and pay a liquidity removing taker rate of $.25 per contract; C2 Market-Makers receive a liquidity making rebate of $.25 per contract and pay a liquidity removing taker rate of $.34 per contract...

75 FR 42802 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-22

... under the Exchange's maker/taker pricing program. The text of the proposed rule change is available on... maker/taker pricing program. The Exchange recently adopted transaction fees and rebates for adding and... National Best Offer 80% of the time for series trading between $0.03 and $5.00 in premium in each of the...

The Effects of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning on Secondary Student ACT Science Scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Judd, William Lindsey

The purpose of this study was to examine any significant difference on secondary school chemistry students' ACT Science Test scores between students taught by the Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) method versus students taught by traditional, teacher-centered pedagogy. This study also examined any difference between students taught by the POGIL method versus students taught by traditional, teacher-centered pedagogy in regard to the three different types of questions on the ACT Science Test: data representation, research summaries, and conflicting viewpoints. The sample consisted of sophomore-level students at two private, suburban Christian schools. A pretest-posttest design was used to compare the mean difference in scores from ACT issued sample test booklets before and after each group had received instruction via the POGIL method or more traditional methods. This study found that there was no significant difference in the mean difference of test scores between the two groups. This study also found that there was not a significant difference in the mean difference of scores in regard to the three different types of questions on the ACT Science Test. Further implications of this study are discussed.

From High School to the Future: ACT Preparation--Too Much, Too Late. Why ACT Scores Are Low in Chicago and What It Means for Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allensworth, Elaine; Correa, Macarena; Ponisciak, Steve

2008-01-01

The majority of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students are not attaining the ACT scores they are aiming for, which they need to qualify for scholarships and college acceptance. This report looks at the reasons behind students' low performance and what matters for doing well on this test. CPS students are highly motivated to do well on the ACT, and…

Development of spiral-groove self-acting seals for helicopter engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Obrien, M.

1979-01-01

A spiral-groove, self-acting face seal was rig tested at advanced gas turbine operating conditions to determine wear and leakage rates. The spiral-groove, self-acting geometry was located in the rotating seal seat. Seal component wear induced by start-stop operation was measured after subjecting the test seal to 176 start-stop cycles. Wear occurring during normal operation was documented throughout a 75-hour endurance test. Seal air leakage was also measured. During endurance operation, the seal was subjected to operating conditions bounded by the values surface speed - 244 m/s (800 ft/sec), air pressure - 148 N/sq cm abs (215 psia), and air temperature - 622 K (660 F). The post-test condition of the seal components was documented. Wear data is presented in tabular form, while seal air leakage is presented graphically, as a function of pressure and speed.

Commercialization of Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plecity, Mark S.; Strickler, Walter M.; Bauer, Robert A.

1996-03-01

In an on-going effort to maintain United States leadership in communication satellite technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), led the development of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). NASA's ACTS program provides industry, academia, and government agencies the opportunity to perform both technology and telecommunication service experiments with a leading-edge communication satellite system. Over 80 organizations are using ACTS as a multi server test bed to establish communication technologies and services of the future. ACTS was designed to provide demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) digital communications with a minimum switchable circuit bandwidth of 64 Kbps, and a maximum channel bandwidth of 900 MHZ. It can, therefore, provide service to thin routes as well as connect fiber backbones in supercomputer networks, across oceans, or restore full communications in the event of national or manmade disaster. Service can also be provided to terrestrial and airborne mobile users. Commercial applications of ACTS technologies include: telemedicine; distance education; Department of Defense operations; mobile communications, aeronautical applications, terrestrial applications, and disaster recovery. This paper briefly describes the ACTS system and the enabling technologies employed by ACTS including Ka-band hopping spot beams, on-board routing and switching, and rain fade compensation. When used in conjunction with a time division multiple access (TDMA) architecture, these technologies provide a higher capacity, lower cost satellite system. Furthermore, examples of completed user experiments, future experiments, and plans of organizations to commercialize ACTS technology in their own future offerings will be discussed.

Effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Training on Clinical Psychology Trainee Stress, Therapist Skills and Attributes, and ACT Processes.

PubMed

Pakenham, Kenneth I

2015-01-01

Despite the increasing uptake of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) by mental health practitioners, few studies have investigated the effects of ACT training on trainees. Clinical psychology trainees (CPTs) are susceptible to high stress such that their training represents a teachable moment for personal application of the therapy skills they learn for clinical practice. This study investigates the effects of ACT training on stress, therapist skills and attributes, and the personal acquisition of ACT strategies in CPTs. Thirty-two CPTs completed questionnaires before and after university-based ACT training that consisted of 12 2-h weekly workshops. Pairwise t-tests showed that CPTs reported improvements from before to after training on measures of counselling self-efficacy, client-therapist alliance, self-kindness, acceptance, defusion, mindfulness and values, and a marginally significant improvement on somatic symptoms, despite a trend towards increased work-related stress. As predicted, each of the ACT process variables was related to one or more of the therapist stress, skill and attribute variables, such that greater levels of mindfulness, values and acceptance, and less thought suppression were related to better trainee outcomes. This study provides preliminary data on therapist skill development and personal benefits for CPTs related to receiving ACT training that interweaves instruction in competencies acquisition with self-care. This study provides preliminary data on therapist skill development and personal benefits for clinical psychology trainees related to receiving ACT training that integrates training in competencies acquisition with self-care. The ACT training offers a framework for integrating the acquisition of clinical competencies and self-care skills and positive therapist attributes in trainees. Findings support a strong positive union between the ACT processes and better trainee personal and professional outcomes. Copyright © 2014 John

Evaluation of the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition, Screening Test for Use in States' Child Outcomes Measurement Systems under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbaum, Batya; Gattamorta, Karina A.; Penfield, Randall D.

2010-01-01

This study evaluated the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition, Screening Test (BDI-2 ST) for use in states' child outcomes accountability systems under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Complete Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition (BDI-2), assessment data were obtained for 142 children, ages 2 to 62 months, who…

13 CFR 107.115 - 1940 Act and 1980 Act Companies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false 1940 Act and 1980 Act Companies. 107.115 Section 107.115 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT COMPANIES Qualifying for an SBIC License Organizing An Sbic § 107.115 1940 Act and 1980 Act...

Survey of Advanced Applications Over ACTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, Robert; McMasters, Paul

2000-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) system provided a national testbed that enabled advanced applications to be tested and demonstrated over a live satellite link. Of the applications that used ACTS. some offered unique advantages over current methods, while others simply could not be accommodated by conventional systems. The initial technical and experiments results of the program were reported at the 1995 ACTS Results Conference. in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, the Experiments Program has involved 45 new experiments comprising 30 application experiments and 15 technology related experiments that took advantage of the advanced technologies and unique capabilities offered by ACTS. The experiments are categorized and quantified to show the organizational mix of the experiments program and relative usage of the satellite. Since paper length guidelines preclude each experiment from being individually reported, the application experiments and significant demonstrations are surveyed to show the breadth of the activities that have been supported. Experiments in a similar application category are collectively discussed, such as. telemedicine. or networking and protocol evaluation. Where available. experiment conclusions and impact are presented and references of results and experiment information are provided. The quantity and diversity of the experiments program demonstrated a variety of service areas for the next generation of commercially available, advanced satellite communications.

78 FR 65583 - Capital Planning and Stress Testing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-01

... comment. SUMMARY: NCUA proposes to conduct annual stress tests of federally insured credit unions (FICUs... Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act), requiring their supervised institutions to conduct annual stress tests... the credit union in its capital plans. Credit unions must also test the impact of interest rate shocks...

Bus Testing Program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1993-01-01

The Bus Testing Program of the Federal Transit Administration was established in response to the requirements of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (STURAA) of 1987. Under the program, testing is required on all new mode...

Investigating the Effects of Prompt Characteristics on the Comparability of TOEFL iBT™ Integrated Writing Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Yeonsuk; Rijmen, Frank; Novák, Jakub

2013-01-01

This study examined the influence of prompt characteristics on the averages of all scores given to test taker responses on the TOEFL iBT[TM] integrated Read-Listen-Write (RLW) writing tasks for multiple administrations from 2005 to 2009. In the context of TOEFL iBT RLW tasks, the prompt consists of a reading passage and a lecture. To understand…

Advanced Placement Results, 2013-14. Measuring Up. D&A Report No.15.01

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilleland, Kevin; Muli, Juliana

2015-01-01

Advanced Placement (AP) outcomes for Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) students have continued an upward trend for over 18 years, out-performing the state and the nation in all measures. In 2013-14 there were 13,757 exams taken by 6,955 WCPSS test-takers with almost 76% of the exams resulting in scores at or above 3, outperforming Guilford…

Student Age and the Collegiate Pathway

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurwitz, Michael; Smith, Jonathan; Howell, Jessica S.

2015-01-01

Using a rich data set of all SAT test takers from the 2004 through 2008 high school graduation cohorts, we investigate the impact of state-specific school age-of-entry laws on students' pathways into and through college. We document that these laws do not impact the probability that a student takes the SAT; however, we find strong evidence that…

A Simple Equation to Predict a Subscore's Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feinberg, Richard A.; Wainer, Howard

2014-01-01

Subscores are often used to indicate test-takers' relative strengths and weaknesses and so help focus remediation. But a subscore is not worth reporting if it is too unreliable to believe or if it contains no information that is not already contained in the total score. It is possible, through the use of a simple linear equation provided in…

Channel and terminal description of the ACTS mobile terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbe, B. S.; Agan, M. J.; Girardey, C. C.; Jedrey, T. C.

1994-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Mobile Terminal (AMT) is a proof-of-concept K/Ka-band mobile satellite communications terminal under development by NASA at JPL. Currently the AMT is undergoing systems integration and testing in preparation for a July 1993 ACTS launch and the subsequent commencement of mobile experiments in the fall of 1993. The AMT objectives are presented, followed by a discussion of the AMT communications channel and the mobile terminal's design and performance.

Channel and terminal description of the ACTS mobile terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbe, B. S.; Agan, M. J.; Girardey, C. C.; Jedrey, T. C.

1993-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Mobile Terminal (AMT) is a proof-of-concept K/Ka-band mobile satellite communications terminal under development by NASA at JPL. Currently the AMT is undergoing system integration and test in preparation for a July 1993 ACTS launch and the subsequent commencement of mobile experiments in the fall of 1993. The AMT objectives are presented followed by a discussion of the AMT communications channel and mobile terminal design and performance.

Building the Talent Pipeline: Policy Recommendations for "The Condition of STEM 2013." BHEF/ACT Policy Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2014

2014-01-01

ACT has been a leader in measuring college and career readiness trends for decades. Each August, ACT releases "The Condition of College & Career Readiness" (www.act.org/newsroom/data/2013), our annual report on the progress of the ACT-tested graduating class relative to college readiness. Nationally, 54.3% of the 2013 graduating…

Validating Standardized Testing: The Role of the SAT and ACT in Undergraduate Admissions. [Hearing before the California Legislature, Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach, Sacramento, California, February 5, 1998].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Legislature, Sacramento. Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach.

This report contains testimony and materials presented at the California Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach hearing, February 1998, held to examine the role of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) in undergraduate admissions to the public universities of California. In her…

75 FR 36535 - Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act of 1974; Implementation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

... Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its regulations concerning the Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act). It..., Privacy Act of 1974; Implementation AGENCY: Department of the Treasury. ACTION: Final rule; correcting... the Privacy Act. In addition, that document revised the list of Treasury offices and bureaus found...

The Effect of English Language on Multiple Choice Question Scores of Thai Medical Students.

PubMed

Phisalprapa, Pochamana; Muangkaew, Wayuda; Assanasen, Jintana; Kunavisarut, Tada; Thongngarm, Torpong; Ruchutrakool, Theera; Kobwanthanakun, Surapon; Dejsomritrutai, Wanchai

2016-04-01

Universities in Thailand are preparing for Thailand's integration into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by increasing the number of tests in English language. English language is not the native language of Thailand Differences in English language proficiency may affect scores among test-takers, even when subject knowledge among test-takers is comparable and may falsely represent the knowledge level of the test-taker. To study the impact of English language multiple choice test questions on test scores of medical students. The final examination of fourth-year medical students completing internal medicine rotation contains 120 multiple choice questions (MCQ). The languages used on the test are Thai and English at a ratio of 3:1. Individual scores of tests taken in both languages were collected and the effect of English language on MCQ was analyzed Individual MCQ scores were then compared with individual student English language proficiency and student grade point average (GPA). Two hundred ninety five fourth-year medical students were enrolled. The mean percentage of MCQ scores in Thai and English were significantly different (65.0 ± 8.4 and 56.5 ± 12.4, respectively, p < 0.001). The correlation between MCQ scores in Thai and English was fair (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.41, p < 0.001). Of 295 students, only 73 (24.7%) students scored higher when being tested in English than in Thai language. Students were classified into six grade categories (A, B+, B, C+, C, and D+), which cumulatively measured total internal medicine rotation performance score plus final examination score. MCQ scores from Thai language examination were more closely correlated with total course grades than were the scores from English language examination (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.73 (p < 0.001) and 0.53 (p < 0.001), respectively). The gap difference between MCQ scores in both languages was higher in borderline students than in the excellent student group (11.2 ± 11

76 FR 64115 - Privacy Act of 1974; Privacy Act System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-17

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (11-092)] Privacy Act of 1974; Privacy Act... retirement of one Privacy Act system of records notice. SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, NASA is giving notice that it proposes to cancel the following Privacy Act system of records notice...

75 FR 743 - Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act of 1974; Implementation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-06

... of Information Act (FOIA) and its regulations concerning the Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act). It..., Privacy Act of 1974; Implementation AGENCY: Department of the Treasury. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This... implement the Privacy Act. In addition, the document revises the list of Treasury offices and bureaus found...

Analysing model fit of psychometric process models: An overview, a new test and an application to the diffusion model.

PubMed

Ranger, Jochen; Kuhn, Jörg-Tobias; Szardenings, Carsten

2017-05-01

Cognitive psychometric models embed cognitive process models into a latent trait framework in order to allow for individual differences. Due to their close relationship to the response process the models allow for profound conclusions about the test takers. However, before such a model can be used its fit has to be checked carefully. In this manuscript we give an overview over existing tests of model fit and show their relation to the generalized moment test of Newey (Econometrica, 53, 1985, 1047) and Tauchen (J. Econometrics, 30, 1985, 415). We also present a new test, the Hausman test of misspecification (Hausman, Econometrica, 46, 1978, 1251). The Hausman test consists of a comparison of two estimates of the same item parameters which should be similar if the model holds. The performance of the Hausman test is evaluated in a simulation study. In this study we illustrate its application to two popular models in cognitive psychometrics, the Q-diffusion model and the D-diffusion model (van der Maas, Molenaar, Maris, Kievit, & Boorsboom, Psychol Rev., 118, 2011, 339; Molenaar, Tuerlinckx, & van der Maas, J. Stat. Softw., 66, 2015, 1). We also compare the performance of the test to four alternative tests of model fit, namely the M 2 test (Molenaar et al., J. Stat. Softw., 66, 2015, 1), the moment test (Ranger et al., Br. J. Math. Stat. Psychol., 2016) and the test for binned time (Ranger & Kuhn, Psychol. Test. Asess. , 56, 2014b, 370). The simulation study indicates that the Hausman test is superior to the latter tests. The test closely adheres to the nominal Type I error rate and has higher power in most simulation conditions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Loopback Radio Frequency Translator For The Acts Mobile Terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, John F.

1993-01-01

This paper summarizes the system design and performance measurements of the Loopback Translator, a satellite simulator to be used in testing the fixed and mobile terminal hardware prior to the ACTS launch.

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS): Design and on-orbit performance measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gargione, F.; Acosta, R.; Coney, T.; Krawczyk, R.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), developed and built by Lockheed Martin Astro space for the NASA Lewis Research Center, was launched in September 1993 on the shuttle STS 51 mission. ACTS is a digital experimental communications test bed that incorporates gigahertz bandwidth transponders operating at Ka band, hopping spot beams, on-board storage and switching, and dynamic rain fade compensation. This paper describes the ACTS enabling technologies, the design of the communications payload, the constraints imposed on the spacecraft bus, and the measurements conducted to verify the performance of the system in orbit.

Thyroid Diseases Tests

MedlinePlus

... Cancer Therapy Glucose Tests Gonorrhea Testing Gram Stain Growth Hormone Haptoglobin hCG Pregnancy hCG Tumor Marker HDL Cholesterol ... hormone production. Also, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) , the hormone that supports the growth of the fetus in pregnancy , can act like ...

Factors associated with trait anger level of juvenile offenders in Hubei province: A binary logistic regression analysis.

PubMed

Tang, Li-Na; Ye, Xiao-Zhou; Yan, Qiu-Ge; Chang, Hong-Juan; Ma, Yu-Qiao; Liu, De-Bin; Li, Zhi-Gen; Yu, Yi-Zhen

2017-02-01

The risk factors of high trait anger of juvenile offenders were explored through questionnaire study in a youth correctional facility of Hubei province, China. A total of 1090 juvenile offenders in Hubei province were investigated by self-compiled social-demographic questionnaire, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II (STAXI-II). The risk factors were analyzed by chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis with SPSS 19.0. A total of 1082 copies of valid questionnaires were collected. High trait anger group (n=316) was defined as those who scored in the upper 27th percentile of STAXI-II trait anger scale (TAS), and the rest were defined as low trait anger group (n=766). The risk factors associated with high level of trait anger included: childhood emotional abuse, childhood sexual abuse, step family, frequent drug abuse, and frequent internet using (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Birth sequence, number of sibling, ranking in the family, identity of the main care-taker, the education level of care-taker, educational style of care-taker, family income, relationship between parents, social atmosphere of local area, frequent drinking, and frequent smoking did not predict to high level of trait anger (P>0.05). It was suggested that traumatic experience in childhood and unhealthy life style may significantly increase the level of trait anger in adulthood. The risk factors of high trait anger and their effects should be taken into consideration seriously.

Design and construction of a prototype ACTS propagation terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stutzman, Warren; Pratt, Tim; Nunnally, Charles; Nealy, Randall; Remaklus, Will; Sylvester, Bill; Predoehl, Andrew; Gaff, Doug

1993-01-01

The launch schedule for the Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS) spacecraft did not leave sufficient time for completion of the prototype ACTS Propagation Terminals (APT) prior to initiation of the APT production phase. In fact, the approach used was to construct and test all subassemblies of the terminal with special emphasis on the technically challenging portions. These include the RF front end that uses a state-of-the-art down converter which integrates a low noise amplifier, mixer, post amplifier, filter, and local oscillator port frequency doubler into a single small package. In addition, a new digital receiver that uses the latest DSP technology was developed. Both of these subassemblies were thoroughly tested. The highest risk technology in the APT program was the digital receiver. Several candidate algorithms and DSP chips were investigated early on, primarily under JPL sponsorship. A receiver was constructed based on Texas Instruments chip. The final prototype digital receiver was one based on an Analog Devices chip. The design and test results are documented in a report prepared for this grant. A Primary Design Review (PDR) was conducted 30 May 1991, and a Critical Design Review was held 7 Jul. 1992. Final complete documentation of the APT's will appear in the form of three reports: a hardware description report, a report on the data collection code (ACTS VIEW), and a report on the preprocessing code.

TEST Act

THOMAS, 112th Congress

Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN

2012-07-17

Senate - 09/19/2012 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 520. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

76 FR 9610 - Notice of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-18

... pollution control technology; undertake periodic equipment testing; and to submit required reports. The... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Notice of Proposed Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act Notice is hereby... the Eastern District of California. The Consent Decree in this Clean Air Act enforcement action...

Title I, Higher Education Act Program Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Lorna M., Ed.

The 1979 edition of the Title I, Higher Education Act Program Abstracts is presented. Directed toward state Title I, HEA administrators, the program abstracts are made available in order to encourage nationwide program replication of those tested and evaluated programs that have been conducted with Title I support by institutions of higher…

Fair Testing: How Schools Should Protect Students' Rights in High-Stakes Testing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coleman, Arthur L.

2000-01-01

While recognizing high-stakes testing's value, both the "GI Forum" decision and the Office of Civil Rights guide raise questions that boards and educators should ask about the administration and consequences of their own testing programs. Methods for systematically collecting, analyzing, disseminating, and acting on test results are needed. (MLH)

Community case management of malaria using ACT and RDT in two districts in Zambia: achieving high adherence to test results using community health workers

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Access to prompt and effective treatment is a cornerstone of the current malaria control strategy. Delays in starting appropriate treatment is a major contributor to malaria mortality. WHO recommends home management of malaria using artemisininbased combination therapy (ACT) and Rapid Diagnostic tests (RDTs) as one of the strategies for improving access to prompt and efective malaria case management. Methods A prospective evaluation of the effectiveness of using community health workers (CHWs) as delivery points for ACT and RDTs in the home management of malaria in two districts in Zambia. Results CHWs were able to manage malaria fevers by correctly interpreting RDT results and appropriately prescribing antimalarials. All severe malaria cases and febrile non-malaria fevers were referred to a health facility for further management. There were variations in malaria prevalence between the two districts and among the villages in each district. 100% and 99.4% of the patients with a negative RDT result were not prescribed an antimalarial in the two districts respectively. No cases progressed to severe malaria and no deaths were recorded during the study period. Community perceptions were positive. Conclusion CHWs are effective delivery points for prompt and effective malaria case management at community level. Adherence to test results is the best ever reported in Zambia. Further areas of implementation research are discussed. PMID:21651827

40 CFR 790.55 - Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test. 790.55 Section 790.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES GOVERNING TESTING CONSENT AGREEMENTS AND TEST RULES Implementation,...

40 CFR 790.55 - Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test. 790.55 Section 790.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES GOVERNING TESTING CONSENT AGREEMENTS AND TEST RULES Implementation,...

40 CFR 790.55 - Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test. 790.55 Section 790.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES GOVERNING TESTING CONSENT AGREEMENTS AND TEST RULES Implementation,...

40 CFR 790.55 - Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 33 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test. 790.55 Section 790.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES GOVERNING TESTING CONSENT AGREEMENTS AND TEST RULES Implementation,...

40 CFR 790.55 - Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Modification of test standards or schedules during conduct of test. 790.55 Section 790.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) PROCEDURES GOVERNING TESTING CONSENT AGREEMENTS AND TEST RULES Implementation,...

76 FR 67763 - Privacy Act of 1974; Privacy Act System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-02

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (11-109)] Privacy Act of 1974; Privacy Act... proposed revisions to an existing Privacy Act system of records. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is issuing public...

Detailed characterization of Act d 12 and Act d 13 from kiwi seeds: implication in IgE cross-reactivity with peanut and tree nuts.

PubMed

Sirvent, S; Cantó, B; Gómez, F; Blanca, N; Cuesta-Herranz, J; Canto, G; Blanca, M; Rodríguez, R; Villalba, M; Palomares, O

2014-11-01

Act d 12 (11S globulin) and Act d 13 (2S albumin) are two novel relevant allergens from kiwi seeds that might be useful to improve the diagnostic sensitivity and the management of kiwifruit-allergic patients. To perform a comprehensive structural and immunological characterization of purified Act d 12 and Act d 13 from kiwi seeds. Sera from 55 well-defined kiwifruit-allergic patients were used. Act d 12 and Act d 13 were purified by chromatographic procedures. Circular dichroism, mass spectrometry, concanavalin A detection, immunoblotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, basophil activation tests, and IgE-inhibition experiments were used. Act d 12 and Act d 13 were purified from kiwi seeds to homogeneity by combining size-exclusion, ion-exchange, and RP-HPLC chromatographies. Both purified allergens preserve the structural integrity and display typical features of their homologous counterparts from the 11S globulin and 2S albumin protein families, respectively. These allergens are released from kiwi seeds after oral and gastric digestion of whole kiwifruit, demonstrating their bioavailability after ingestion. The allergens retain the capacity to bind serum IgE from kiwifruit-allergic patients, induce IgE cross-linking in effector-circulating basophils, and display in vitro IgE cross-reactivity with homologous counterparts from peanut and tree nuts. Purified Act d 12 and Act d 13 from kiwi seeds are well-defined molecules involved in in vitro IgE cross-reactivity with peanut and tree nuts. Their inclusion in component-resolved diagnosis of kiwifruit allergy might well contribute to improve the diagnostic sensitivity and the management of kiwifruit-allergic patients. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Challenges and Opportunities for Testing Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Information for Educators on Creating Test Equity. Test Equity Considerations: Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PEPNet-West, 2010

2010-01-01

For most students, test taking is a challenge. For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, classroom quizzes, tests, and exams are even more challenging. Standardized tests--The SAT, ACT, state proficiency tests, No Child Left Behind annual tests, and psychoeducational evaluations--present additional challenges for students who are deaf or hard…

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). Phase 1: Industrial/academic experimenters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maisel, James E.; Nowlin, Robert W.

1992-01-01

This report presents the work done at Arizona State University under the ACTS Experimenters Program. The main thrust of the Program was to develop experiments to test, evaluate, and prove the commercial worthiness of the ACTS satellite which is scheduled for launch in 1993. To accomplish this goal, meetings were held with various governmental, industrial, and academic units to discuss the ACTS satellite and its technology and possible experiments that would generate industrial interest and support for ASU's efforts. Several local industries generated several experiments of their own. The investigators submitted several experiments of educational, medical, commercial, and technical value and interest. The disposition of these experimental proposals is discussed in this report.

Child Welfare Act and Child Custody and Right of Access Act. Finland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Utriainen, Sirpa, Ed.

The two major articles of child welfare legislation in Finland are the Child Welfare Act of 1983 and the Child Custody and Right of Access Act of 1983. These new acts are part of a reform of social legislation and services providing increased flexibility and effectiveness in protecting Finnish children's health and happiness. The Acts attach…

Testing Accommodations for ELL Students on an Achievement Test Battery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dockery, Lori Lee

2013-01-01

How well students perform on standardized tests can affect their educational paths and the rest of their lives. In addition, students' performances on state assessments will affect their schools due to the No Child Left Behind Act. For English language learners (ELLs), the success on tests may be diminished due to their inability to completely…

A Study of the Relationship between the ACT College Mathematics Readiness Standard and College Mathematics Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harwell, Michael; Moreno, Mario; Post, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between the American College Testing (ACT) college mathematics readiness standard and college mathematics achievement using a sample of students who met or exceeded the minimum 3 years high school mathematics coursework recommended by ACT. According to ACT, a student who scores 22 or higher on the ACT…

Recurrent Word Combinations in EAP Test-Taker Writing: Differences between High- and Low-Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appel, Randy; Wood, David

2016-01-01

The correct use of frequently occurring word combinations represents an important part of language proficiency in spoken and written discourse. This study investigates the use of English-language recurrent word combinations in low-level and high-level L2 English academic essays sourced from the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) assessment.…

The lateral septum and anterior hypothalamus act in tandem to regulate burying in the shock-probe test but not open-arm avoidance in the elevated plus-maze.

PubMed

Lamontagne, Steven J; Olmstead, Mary C; Menard, Janet L

2016-11-01

Both the lateral septum (LS) and anterior hypothalamus (AHA) regulate behavioural defense. We tested whether those two interconnected structures act in serial in that regard. Infusions of the GABAA agonist muscimol into one side of the LS and the contralateral (but not ipsilateral) AHA suppressed rats' burying in the shock-probe test whereas none of our muscimol infusion approaches altered their open-arm avoidance in the elevated plus-maze. These results suggest that the LS-AHA circuit serves a specialized role in defensive responses towards discrete, localizable threat stimuli but not towards potential threats. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance test results of noninvasive characterization of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act surrogate waste by prompt gamma neutron activation analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gehrke, R.J.; Streier, G.G.

1997-03-01

During FY-96, a performance test was carried out with funding from the Mixed Waste Focus Area (MWFA) of the Department of Energy (DOE) to determine the noninvasive elemental assay capabilities of commercial companies for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals present in 8-gal drums containing surrogate waste. Commercial companies were required to be experienced in the use of prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) techniques and to have a prototype assay system with which to conduct the test assays. Potential participants were identified through responses to a call for proposals advertised in the Commerce Business Daily and through personalmore » contacts. Six companies were originally identified. Two of these six were willing and able to participate in the performance test, as described in the test plan, with some subsidizing from the DOE MWFA. The tests were conducted with surrogate sludge waste because (1) a large volume of this type of waste awaits final disposition and (2) sludge tends to be somewhat homogeneous. The surrogate concentrations of the above RCRA metals ranged from {approximately} 300 ppm to {approximately} 20,000 ppm. The lower limit was chosen as an estimate of the expected sensitivity of detection required by noninvasive, pretreatment elemental assay systems to be of value for operational and compliance purposes and to still be achievable with state-of-the-art methods of analysis. The upper limit of {approximately} 20,000 ppm was chosen because it is the opinion of the author that assay above this concentration level is within current state-of-the-art methods for most RCRA constituents. This report is organized into three parts: Part 1, Test Plan to Evaluate the Technical Status of Noninvasive Elemental Assay Techniques for Hazardous Waste; Part 2, Participants` Results; and Part 3, Evaluation of and Comments on Participants` Results.« less

Validity Evidence for ACT Compass® Placement Tests. ACT Research Report Series 2014 (2)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westrick, Paul A.; Allen, Jeff

2014-01-01

We examined the validity of using Compass® test scores and high school grade point average (GPA) for placing students in first-year college courses and for identifying students at risk of not succeeding. Consistent with other research, the combination of high school GPA and Compass scores performed better than either measure used alone. Results…

Awareness of Consumer Protection Act among dental health professionals in dental schools of Ghaziabad, India.

PubMed

Prasad, Sumanth; Menon, Ipseeta; Dhingra, Chandan; Anand, Richa

2013-12-01

The study aimed to assess the awareness of the Consumer Protection Act among dental health professionals in dental schools of Ghaziabad, India. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out on dental health professionals in dental schools of Ghaziabad, India. A total of 348 dental health professionals (170 males and 178 females) were surveyed, out of which 116 were MDS faculty, 45 were BDS faculty and 187 were pursuing post graduation. The questionnaire comprised of 24 questions about the awareness of consumer protection act. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test, student's t test and ANOVA. A total of 84.8% (n=295) reported to be aware of consumer protection act. Amongst them, MDS faculty showed more awareness as compared to BDS faculty and those pursuing post-graduation. Considering the present scenario, MDS faculty dental professionals have more awareness of consumer protection act compared to other dental professionals. So, we must upgrade our knowledge on consumer protection act at all levels of our profession and change our attitude by inculcating a practice to spread the message of consumer protection act for delivering quality dental care.

Quality control for federal clean water act and safe drinking water act regulatory compliance.

PubMed

Askew, Ed

2013-01-01

QC sample results are required in order to have confidence in the results from analytical tests. Some of the AOAC water methods include specific QC procedures, frequencies, and acceptance criteria. These are considered to be the minimum controls needed to perform the method successfully. Some regulatory programs, such as those in 40 CFR Part 136.7, require additional QC or have alternative acceptance limits. Essential QC measures include method calibration, reagent standardization, assessment of each analyst's capabilities, analysis of blind check samples, determination of the method's sensitivity (method detection level or quantification limit), and daily evaluation of bias, precision, and the presence of laboratory contamination or other analytical interference. The details of these procedures, their performance frequency, and expected ranges of results are set out in this manuscript. The specific regulatory requirements of 40 CFR Part 136.7 for the Clean Water Act, the laboratory certification requirements of 40 CFR Part 141 for the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the ISO 17025 accreditation requirements under The NELAC Institute are listed.

Forgetting ACT UP

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juhasz, Alexandra

2012-01-01

When ACT UP is remembered as the pinnacle of postmodern activism, other forms and forums of activism that were taking place during that time--practices that were linked, related, just modern, in dialogue or even opposition to ACT UP's "confrontational activism"--are forgotten. In its time, ACT UP was embedded in New York City, and a…

Tube and column agglutination technology for autocontrol testing.

PubMed

Courtney, J E; Vincent, J L; Indrikovs, A J

2001-01-01

The incidence of positive autocontrol test results with column agglutination technology is a concern. This study investigates the incidence and significance of positive autocontrols in the ID Micro Typing System (gel) and the Gamma ReACT (ReACT). The study encompassed a total of 1021 randomly selected samples from patients and 95 samples from donors collected during 1 month. The autocontrol testing was carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions for the column agglutination tests. The tube method was carried out using low-ionic-strength solution (LISS). The direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was performed using the tube method, and further investigated with elution studies if warranted. Seventy-nine patient's samples (7.74%) had a positive autocontrol: the gel test, 72 (91.13%); ReACT, 21 (26.58%); and the tube method, 27 (34.18%). Of the 79 positive autocontrols, 44 samples had a negative DAT. Of the samples with positive DAT results, only one possessed a clinically significant antibody, anti-D. Moreover, the same sample also tested positive in all three methods. Column agglutination techniques have increased sensitivity for a positive autocontrol beyond the conventional tube method. However, ReACT and gel tests differ significantly in their frequency of positives. Investigation of the significance of a positive autocontrol in column agglutination technology when the conventional tube method is also positive is suggested.

2-Mercaptobenzothiazole; Final Test Rule

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA is issuing a final test rule, under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requiring manufacturers and processors of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT, CAS No. 149—30-4) to perform testing.

The Dental Hygiene Aptitude Tests and the American College Testing Program Tests as Predictors of Scores on the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longenbecker, Sueann; Wood, Peter H.

1984-01-01

Scores from the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) served as the criterion variable in a comparison of the predictive validity of the Dental Hygiene Aptitude Tests (DHAT) and the ACT Assessment tests. The DHAT-Science and Verbal tests combined to produce the highest multiple correlation with NBDHE scores. (Author/DWH)

Testing College Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols-Barrer, Ira; Place, Kate; Dillon, Erin; Gill, Brian P.

2016-01-01

The state of Massachusetts introduced a system of standardized testing in its public schools three years before the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated such practices for all 50 states. Although the tests have evolved over time, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) has been in place ever since. After Massachusetts…

77 FR 517 - Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Under the Clean Air Act

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-05

... given that on December 29, 2011, a proposed consent decree in United States, et al. v. Essroc Cement... statutory and regulatory requirements of the Clean Air Act (the ``Act'') at Essroc cement plants: the... X at five cement kilns. The proposed consent decree also requires testing a selective catalytic...

Freedom Of Information Act

Science.gov Websites

Web Site Freedom of Information Act Sign In Freedom of Information Act Header Search this site ... Search Freedom of Information Act Introduction to FOIA Making A Request Points of Contact FOIA Reports Reading Room Frequently Asked Questions FOIA Links Privacy Act Requests Freedom Of Information (FOIA) &

The art and science of selecting graduate students in the biomedical sciences: Performance in doctoral study of the foundational sciences.

PubMed

Park, Hee-Young; Berkowitz, Oren; Symes, Karen; Dasgupta, Shoumita

2018-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate associations between admissions criteria and performance in Ph.D. programs at Boston University School of Medicine. The initial phase of this project examined student performance in the classroom component of a newly established curriculum named "Foundations in Biomedical Sciences (FiBS)". Quantitative measures including undergraduate grade point average (GPA), graduate record examination (GRE; a standardized, computer-based test) scores for the verbal (assessment of test takers' ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information and concepts provided in writing) and quantitative (assessment of test takers' problem-solving ability) components of the examination, previous research experience, and competitiveness of previous research institution were used in the study. These criteria were compared with competencies in the program defined as students who pass the curriculum as well as students categorized as High Performers. These data indicated that there is a significant positive correlation between FiBS performance and undergraduate GPA, GRE scores, and competitiveness of undergraduate institution. No significant correlations were found between FiBS performance and research background. By taking a data-driven approach to examine admissions and performance, we hope to refine our admissions criteria to facilitate an unbiased approach to recruitment of students in the life sciences and to share our strategy to support similar goals at other institutions.

Improvements in manual dexterity relate to improvements in cognitive planning after assisted cycling therapy (ACT) in adolescents with down syndrome.

PubMed

Holzapfel, Simon D; Ringenbach, Shannon D R; Mulvey, Genna M; Sandoval-Menendez, Amber M; Cook, Megan R; Ganger, Rachel O; Bennett, Kristen

2015-01-01

We have previously reported beneficial effects of acute (i.e., single session) Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on manual dexterity and cognitive planning ability in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). In the present study, we report the chronic effects of eight weeks of ACT, voluntary cycling (VC), and no cycling (NC), on the same measures in adolescents with DS. Participants completed 8 weeks of ACT, VC, or NC. Those in the ACT and VC groups completed 30min sessions three times per week on a stationary bicycle. During ACT, the mechanical motor of the bicycle augmented the cadence to a rate which was on average 79% faster than the voluntary cadence. During VC, the participants pedaled at a self-selected rate. Unimanual dexterity scores as measured with the Purdue Pegboard test (PPT) improved significantly more for the ACT and VC groups compared to the NC group. ACT lead to greater improvements than VC and NC in the assembly sub-test, which is a task that requires more advanced temporal and spatial processing. The ACT group improved significantly more than the VC group and non-significantly more than the NC group in cognitive planning ability as measured by the Tower of London test (ToL). There were also significant correlations between the assembly subtest of the PPT and all measures of the ToL. These correlations were stronger during post-testing than pre-testing. Pre-post changes in the combined PPT score and ToL number of correct moves correlated positively in the ACT group. These results support the efficacy of the salutary effects of ACT on global fine motor function and executive function in DS. Additionally, the performance on complex bimanual dexterity tasks appears to be related to the capacity of cognitive planning ability. This research has important implications for persons with movement deficits that affect activities of daily living. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ACT Reporting Category Interpretation Guide: Version 1.0. ACT Working Paper 2016 (05)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Sonya; Li, Dongmei; Suh, Hongwook; Harris, Deborah J.

2016-01-01

ACT reporting categories and ACT Readiness Ranges are new features added to the ACT score reports starting in fall 2016. For each reporting category, the number correct score, the maximum points possible, the percent correct, and the ACT Readiness Range, along with an indicator of whether the reporting category score falls within the Readiness…

Speech-Act and Text-Act Theory: "Theme-ing" in Freshman Composition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horner, Winifred B.

In contrast to a speech-act theory that is limited by a simple speaker/hearer relationship, a text-act theory of written language allows for the historical or personal context of a writer and reader, both in the written work itself and in the act of reading. This theory can be applied to theme writing, essay examinations, and revision in the…

40 CFR 797.1930 - Mysid shrimp acute toxicity test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... in a control group. (ii) Acclimation. (A) Any change in the temperature and chemistry of the dilution... SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS TESTING GUIDELINES Aquatic Guidelines § 797.1930... test regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (Pub. L. 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003, 15 U.S.C...

40 CFR 797.1930 - Mysid shrimp acute toxicity test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... in a control group. (ii) Acclimation. (A) Any change in the temperature and chemistry of the dilution... SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS TESTING GUIDELINES Aquatic Guidelines § 797.1930... test regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (Pub. L. 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003, 15 U.S.C...

40 CFR 797.1930 - Mysid shrimp acute toxicity test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... in a control group. (ii) Acclimation. (A) Any change in the temperature and chemistry of the dilution... SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS TESTING GUIDELINES Aquatic Guidelines § 797.1930... test regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (Pub. L. 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003, 15 U.S.C...

40 CFR 797.1930 - Mysid shrimp acute toxicity test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... in a control group. (ii) Acclimation. (A) Any change in the temperature and chemistry of the dilution... SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT (CONTINUED) ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS TESTING GUIDELINES Aquatic Guidelines § 797.1930... test regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (Pub. L. 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003, 15 U.S.C...

18-month-olds comprehend indirect communicative acts.

PubMed

Schulze, Cornelia; Tomasello, Michael

2015-03-01

From soon after their first birthdays young children are able to make inferences from a communicator's referential act (e.g., pointing to a container) to her overall social goal for communication (e.g., to inform that a searched-for toy is inside; see Behne, Carpenter, & Tomasello, 2005; Behne, Liszkowski, Carpenter, & Tomasello, 2012). But in such cases the inferential distance between referential act and communicative intention is still fairly close, as both container and searched-for toy lie in the direction of the pointing gesture. In the current study we tested 18- and 26-month-old children in a situation in which referential act and communicative goal were more distant: In the midst of a game, the child needed a certain toy. The experimenter then held up a key (that they knew in common ground could be used to open a container) to the child ostensively. In two control conditions the experimenter either inadvertently moved the key and so drew the child's attention to it non-ostensively or else held up the key for her own inspection intentionally but non-communicatively. Children of both ages took only the ostensive showing of the key, not the accidental moving or the non-ostensive but intentional inspection of the key, as an indirect request to take the key and open the container to retrieve the toy inside. From soon after they start acquiring language young children thus are able to infer a communicator's social goal for communication not only from directly-referential acts, but from more indirect communicative acts as well. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Testing Under Fire: Chicago's Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrd, Manford, Jr.

The history and development of city-wide testing programs in Chicago since 1936 are reviewed and placed in context with the impact on testing of Sputnik and the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. Current testing problems include the time lag between events and curricular changes and new test construction, the time lag between…

77 FR 16484 - Annual Stress Test

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-21

... FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION 12 CFR Part 325 RIN 3064-AD91 Annual Stress Test AGENCY... to conduct annual stress tests. \\1\\ Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public... billion (``covered banks'') to conduct annual stress tests (``bank-run stress tests''). The proposed rule...

76 FR 64114 - Privacy Act of 1974; Privacy Act System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-17

....C. 2473 (2003); Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. 3101 (2003); Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 205.... ADDRESSES: Patti F. Stockman, Privacy Act Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, National... Information Officer. NASA 10CFMR SYSTEM NAME: Core Financial Management Records. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: This...

The Library Systems Act and Rules for Administering the Library Systems Act.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas State Library, Austin. Library Development Div.

This document contains the Texas Library Systems Act and rules for administering the Library Systems Act. Specifically, it includes the following documents: Texas Library Systems Act; Summary of Codes;Texas Administrative Code: Service Complaints and Protest Procedure; Criteria For Texas Library System Membership; and Certification Requirements…

The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Funding for Newborn Screening Services.

PubMed

Costich, Julia F; Durst, Andrea L

2016-01-01

The Affordable Care Act requires most health plans to cover the federal Recommended Uniform Screening Panel of newborn screening (NBS) tests with no cost sharing. However, state NBS programs vary widely in both the number of mandated tests and their funding mechanisms, including a combination of state laboratory fees, third-party billing, and other federal and state funding. We assessed the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act coverage mandate on states' NBS funding. We performed an extensive review of the refereed literature, federal and state agency reports, relevant organizations' websites, and applicable state laws and regulations; interviewed 28 state and federal officials from August to December 2014; and then assessed the interview findings manually. Although a majority of states had well-established systems for including laboratory-based NBS tests in bundled charges for newborn care, billing practices for critical congenital heart disease and newborn hearing tests were less uniform. Most commonly, birthing facilities either prepaid the costs of laboratory-based tests when acquiring the filter paper kits, or the facilities paid for the tests when the kits were submitted. Some states had separate arrangements for billing Medicaid, and smaller facilities sometimes contracted with hearing test vendors that billed families separately. Although the Affordable Care Act coverage mandate may offset some state NBS funding for the screenings themselves, federal support is still required to assure access to the full range of NBS program services. Limiting reimbursement to the costs of screening tests alone would undermine the common practice of using screening charges to fund follow-up services counseling, and medical food or formula, particularly for low-income families.

Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida State Dept. of Education, Tallahassee. Bureau of Instructional Support and Community Services.

This brief guide explains the use of testing accommodations for students with a disability participating in state or district educational assessments under federal and Florida state law. These include the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Florida Administrative Code. Planning…

The omission strategy.

PubMed

DeScioli, Peter; Christner, John; Kurzban, Robert

2011-04-01

People are more willing to bring about morally objectionable outcomes by omission than by commission. Similarly, people condemn others less harshly when a moral offense occurs by omission rather than by commission, even when intentions are controlled. We propose that these two phenomena are related, and that the reduced moral condemnation of omissions causes people to choose omissions in their own behavior to avoid punishment. We report two experiments using an economic game in which one participant (the taker) could take money from another participant (the owner) either by omission or by commission. We manipulated whether or not a third party had the opportunity to punish the taker by reducing the taker's payment. Our results indicated that the frequency of omission increases when punishment is possible. We conclude that people choose omissions to avoid condemnation and that the omission effect is best understood not as a bias, but as a strategy.

MMPI-2 characteristics of the Old Order Amish: a comparison of clinical, nonclinical, and United States normative samples.

PubMed

Knabb, Joshua J; Vogt, Ronald G; Newgren, Kevin P

2011-12-01

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 23(4) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2011-12640-001). The article contains an error under the Participants and Procedure heading. This is addressed in the correction.] In the current study, we investigated Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) characteristics in an Old Order Amish nonclinical sample (N = 84), comparing these data with both the United States normative sample (N = 2,600) and a sample of Old Order Amish outpatients (N = 136). Consistent with our hypothesis, the Old Order Amish nonclinical group scored similarly to the United States normative sample and lower than the Old Order Amish outpatients on most scales. Thus, overall, the MMPI-2 appears to be sensitive to psychopathology, especially depression and psychosis, among Old Order Amish test takers. Still, several Validity, Clinical, Supplementary, Content, and Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scale score differences materialized between the Old Order Amish nonclinical group and the United States group, suggesting that certain MMPI-2 scales may need to be interpreted differently for Old Order Amish test takers. Further MMPI-2 research is needed with the Old Order Amish to replicate and generalize our findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

The dermatology acting internship.

PubMed

Stephens, John B; Raimer, Sharon S; Wagner, Richard F

2011-07-15

Acting internships are an important component of modern day medical school curriculum. Several specialties outside of internal medicine now offer acting internship experiences to fourth year medical students. We have found that a dermatology acting internship is a valuable experience for fourth year medical students who are interested in pursuing a residency in dermatology. Our experience with the dermatology acting internship over the 2010-2011 academic year is described.

16 CFR Figure 7 to Part 1203 - Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR BICYCLE HELMETS Pt. 1203, Fig. 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203—Typical Test Apparatus for Positional...

16 CFR Figure 7 to Part 1203 - Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR BICYCLE HELMETS Pt. 1203, Fig. 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203—Typical Test Apparatus for Positional...

16 CFR Figure 7 to Part 1203 - Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Typical Test Apparatus for Positional Stability Test 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR BICYCLE HELMETS Pt. 1203, Fig. 7 Figure 7 to Part 1203—Typical Test Apparatus for Positional...

Testing for Accountability: A Balancing Act That Challenges Current Testing Practices and Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brennan, Robert L.

2015-01-01

Koretz, in his article published in this issue, provides compelling arguments that the high stakes currently associated with accountability testing lead to behavioral changes in students, teachers, and other stakeholders that often have negative consequences, such as inflated scores. Koretz goes on to argue that these negative consequences require…

Student Achievement and Efficiency in Missouri Schools and the No Child Left Behind Act

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Primont, Diane F.; Domazlicky, Bruce

2006-01-01

The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools make ''annual yearly progress'' in raising student achievement, or face possible sanctions. The No Child Left Behind Act places added emphasis on test scores, such as scores from the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP), to evaluate the performance of schools. In this paper, we investigate…

Risk taking and refusal assertiveness in a longitudinal model of alcohol use among inner-city adolescents.

PubMed

Epstein, J A; Griffin, K W; Botvin, G J

2001-09-01

Risk taking and refusal assertiveness have been shown to be important determinants of adolescent alcohol use. However, it remains unclear whether youth predisposed to risk taking would be less likely to assertively refuse. This study examined the relationships among risk taking, refusal assertiveness, and alcohol use in a sample of inner-city minority students (N = 1,459), using a cross-lagged longitudinal structural equation model. Data collectors administered the questionnaire to students following a standardized protocol during a 40-min class period. Based on the tested model, risk taking was more stable over time than refusal assertiveness. Furthermore, high risk takers reported less frequent subsequent refusal assertiveness, and less frequent refusal assertiveness predicted greater drinking. A predisposition toward risk taking appears to be an enduring characteristic that is associated with low refusal assertiveness and increased alcohol use. These findings suggest that alcohol prevention programs that emphasize refusal skills training may be less effective for high risk takers. But programs that focus on enhancing competence or reducing normative expectations for peer alcohol use might be more effective for high risk-taking youth.

7 CFR 33.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORT APPLE ACT Definitions § 33.1 Act. Act and Export Apple Act are synonymous and mean “An act to promote the foreign trade of the United States in apples to protect the reputation of American-grown apples in foreign markets, to prevent deception or misrepresentation as to the quality of...

7 CFR 33.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORT APPLE ACT Definitions § 33.1 Act. Act and Export Apple Act are synonymous and mean “An act to promote the foreign trade of the United States in apples to protect the reputation of American-grown apples in foreign markets, to prevent deception or misrepresentation as to the quality of...

7 CFR 33.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORT APPLE ACT Definitions § 33.1 Act. Act and Export Apple Act are synonymous and mean “An act to promote the foreign trade of the United States in apples to protect the reputation of American-grown apples in foreign markets, to prevent deception or misrepresentation as to the quality of...

7 CFR 33.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORT APPLE ACT Definitions § 33.1 Act. Act and Export Apple Act are synonymous and mean “An act to promote the foreign trade of the United States in apples to protect the reputation of American-grown apples in foreign markets, to prevent deception or misrepresentation as to the quality of...

7 CFR 33.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... AUTHORITY OF THE EXPORT APPLE ACT Definitions § 33.1 Act. Act and Export Apple Act are synonymous and mean “An act to promote the foreign trade of the United States in apples to protect the reputation of American-grown apples in foreign markets, to prevent deception or misrepresentation as to the quality of...

Cost-effectiveness analysis of rapid diagnostic test, microscopy and syndromic approach in the diagnosis of malaria in Nigeria: implications for scaling-up deployment of ACT.

PubMed

Uzochukwu, Benjamin S C; Obikeze, Eric N; Onwujekwe, Obinna E; Onoka, Chima A; Griffiths, Ulla K

2009-11-23

The diagnosis and treatment of malaria is often based on syndromic presentation (presumptive treatment) and microscopic examination of blood films. Treatment based on syndromic approach has been found to be costly, and contributes to the development of drug resistance, while microscopic diagnosis of malaria is time-consuming and labour-intensive. Also, there is lack of trained microscopists and reliable equipment especially in rural areas of Nigeria. However, although rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have improved the ease of appropriate diagnosis of malaria diagnosis, the cost-effectiveness of RDTs in case management of malaria has not been evaluated in Nigeria. The study hence compares the cost-effectiveness of RDT versus syndromic diagnosis and microscopy. A total of 638 patients with fever, clinically diagnosed as malaria (presumptive malaria) by health workers, were selected for examination with both RDT and microscopy. Patients positive on RDT received artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and febrile patients negative on RDT received an antibiotic treatment. Using a decision tree model for a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 patients, the diagnostic alternatives considered were presumptive treatment (base strategy), RDT and microscopy. Costs were based on a consumer and provider perspective while the outcome measure was deaths averted. Information on costs and malaria epidemiology were locally generated, and along with available data on effectiveness of diagnostic tests, adherence level to drugs for treatment, and drug efficacy levels, cost-effectiveness estimates were computed using TreeAge programme. Results were reported based on costs and effects per strategy, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. The cost-effectiveness analysis at 43.1% prevalence level showed an incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 221 per deaths averted between RDT and presumptive treatment, while microscopy is dominated at that level. There was also a lesser cost of

Tetrabromobisphenol A; Final Test Rule

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA is issuing a final test rule, under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), requiring manufacturers and processors of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA. CAS No. 79—94—7) to perform testing for chemical fate and environmental effects.

Initial Teacher Licensure Testing in Tennessee: Test Validation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, Harry L.; Petry, John R.

In 1988 a study was conducted to determine the validity of candidate teacher licensure examinations for use in Tennessee under the 1984 Comprehensive Education Reform Act. The Department of Education conducted a study to determine the validity of 11 previously unvalidated or extensively revised tests for certification and to make recommendations…

7 CFR 63.1 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) NATIONAL SHEEP INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENT CENTER... Development Act, 7 U.S.C. 2008j, as amended by section 11009 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008...

NAPWA prefers no CARE act to one laden with new restrictions.

PubMed

1999-11-26

The National Association for People With AIDS would prefer no reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act from Congress to a bad bill. The group fears candidates will attempt to communicate their social policy views through the CARE Act during an election year. Policy advocates say that issues like mandatory testing, name-based reporting, and criminalizing HIV exposure through sex are not sound public health, and NAPWA is opposed to seeing these policies become law. Failure to reauthorize the CARE act would not necessarily mean programs are canceled because funding can be renewed through the process of appropriations. However the strategy of pulling the bill may be risky if the next Congress is not as hospitable to the advocacy community as the current one.

OIeylamine; Testing Requirements

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA is issuing a final rule under section 4(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requiring manufacturers and processors of oleylamine (9-octadecenylamine or ODA, CAS Number 112-90—3) to test this chemical.

76 FR 18348 - Required Scale Tests

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-04

... RIN 0580-AB10 Required Scale Tests AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration... published a document in the Federal Register on January 20, 2011 (76 FR 3485), defining required scale tests...-month period following each test. * * * * * Alan R. Christian, Acting Administrator, Grain Inspection...

College Admissions: Beyond Conventional Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sternberg, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Standardized admissions tests such as the SAT (originally stood for "Scholastic Aptitude Test") and the ACT measure only a narrow segment of the skills needed to become an active citizen and possibly a leader who makes a positive, meaningful, and enduring difference to the world. The problem with these tests is that they promised, under…

Development of spiral-groove self-acting face seals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Obrien, M.

1977-01-01

An experimental evaluation and a 100-hour endurance test were performed on a spiral groove geometry, self-acting face seal. The seal was tested and operated successfully at maximum conditions of 243.8 m/s surface speed, 199.9 N/sq cm air pressure, and 645.4K (702 F) air temperature. The maximum speed condition of 243.8 m/s was obtained at a shaft speed of 72,500 rpm. Seal wear, gas leakage, and sealing element temperature were monitored during the test. Condition of the seal at the completion of the test was documented and found acceptable for further use. The spiral groove wear rate measured during the endurance test indicates a minimum potential seal life of over 2700 hours. Seal air leakage measured during the test program is within the range considered acceptable for consideration for use in a small gas turbine engine.

2-Ethylhexanoic Acid; Final Test Rule

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA is issuing a final test rule, under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), requiring manufacturers and processors of 2-ethylhexanoic acid (EHA, CAS No. 149-57-5) to conduct testing.

ACT-R Electronic Bookshelf: An Adaptive System To Support Learning ACT-R on the Web.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brusilovsky, Peter; Anderson, John

This paper describes the electronic ACT-R Bookshelf, a system which supports learning ACT-R, a well-known theory in the field of cognitive psychology, over the World Wide Web. ACT-R Bookshelf is a collection of electronic books on various aspects of ACT-R. The primary role of ACT-R Bookshelf is to serve as a 24-hour information resource for…

ACTS data center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Syed, Ali; Vogel, Wolfhard J.

1993-01-01

Viewgraphs on ACTS Data Center status report are included. Topics covered include: ACTS Data Center Functions; data flow overview; PPD flow; RAW data flow; data compression; PPD distribution; RAW Data Archival; PPD Audit; and data analysis.

40 CFR 766.10 - Test standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Test standards. 766.10 Section 766.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT DIBENZO-PARA-DIOXINS/DIBENZOFURANS General Provisions § 766.10 Test standards. Testing required under subpart B...

A comparison of the number of hours of sleep in high school students who took advanced placement and/or college courses and those who did not.

PubMed

Jin, Qiushuang; Shi, Qian

2008-12-01

This study investigated the association between sleep deprivation and enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) and/or college courses among high school students. Approximately 4,000 surveys were distributed, and 2,197 completed surveys were returned from students in Grades 9 to 12 at 15 high schools in Iowa. Findings indicated the majority of high school students were sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation was significantly associated with enrollment in AP/college courses. Results indicated that enrollment in AP/college courses had a greater impact on younger students than older students. Compared with non-AP/college course takers, AP/college course takers slept approximately 20 minutes less per night. Specifically, 9th- and 10th-grade AP/college course takers slept approximately 1 hour less and 40 minutes less, respectively. In addition, students enrolled in two or more AP/college classes received 1 hour less and 30 minutes less among 10th and 11th graders, respectively. These results provide useful information on adolescent sleep patterns for school nurses.

Privacy Act Statement

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Any information you provide to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Suspension and Debarment Program will be governed by the Privacy Act and will be included in the EPA Debarment and Suspension Files, a Privacy Act system of records.

Recovery Act Milestones

ScienceCinema

Rogers, Matt

2018-05-11

Every 100 days, the Department of Energy is held accountable for a progress report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Update at 200 days, hosted by Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu for Recovery Act Implementation.

Recovery Act Milestones

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rogers, Matt

2009-01-01

Every 100 days, the Department of Energy is held accountable for a progress report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Update at 200 days, hosted by Matt Rogers, Senior Advisor to Secretary Steven Chu for Recovery Act Implementation.

77 FR 49797 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-17

... Project Formative Research for the Development of CDC's Act Against AIDS Social Marketing Campaigns... study is to conduct interviews and focus groups in four rounds of data collections (exploratory research... period to develop various social marketing campaigns aimed at increasing HIV testing rates, increasing...

16 CFR 1209.33 - Reasonable testing program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 1209.33 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS INTERIM SAFETY STANDARD FOR CELLULOSE INSULATION Certification § 1209.33 Reasonable testing program. (a) General. Section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2063(a)) requires each manufacturer...

The Relationship between Upper-Level Math Course Completion and ACT Math Sub Score Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dial, Larry Michael

2016-01-01

More high school students are taking the ACT and more students are taking it at an earlier age. States such as Missouri are now testing all public and charter school students during their junior year to use the ACT as a formative assessment to drive discussions about student schedules, plans of study, and course offerings. With more data from more…

Design and Testing of Scaled Ejector-Diffusers for Jet Engine Test Facility Applications.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-01

the test cell such that the exhaust will be vented into an augmenting tube which acts as an ejector -diffuser assembly. 11 The kinetic energy of the...OF STANDARDS-1963-A ..’I -Dy , - 77 *4********* Z 7.77- NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California W I THESIS DESIGN AND TESTING OF SCALED EJECTOR ...PERIOD COVERED Design and Testing of Scaled Ejector - "flglfeerls Thesis~ Diffusers for Jet Engine Test Facility Spebr18 S. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT

Hydroquinone Testing Requirements

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

On January 4, 1984, the EPA proposed, under section 4(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), that manufacturers and processors of hydroquinone (CAS No. 123-31-9) conduct health and environmental effects testing of that chemical (49 FR 438).

16 CFR 1203.9 - Test headforms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Test headforms. 1203.9 Section 1203.9 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR BICYCLE HELMETS The Standard § 1203.9 Test headforms. The headforms used for testing shall be...

7 CFR 1260.128 - Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... AND ORDERS; MISCELLANEOUS COMMODITIES), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BEEF PROMOTION AND RESEARCH Beef Promotion and Research Order Definitions § 1260.128 Act. Act means the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985, Title XVI, Subtitle A of the Food Security Act of 1985, Pub. L. 99-198 and any amendments thereto. ...

Development of test methods for textile composites