How best to assess the nature and extent of student learning remains one of the most important issues in large, entry-level psychology courses. Inasmuch as multiple-choice examinations are often used in making that determination, our literature review examined the extent to which item sequence affects performance on such exams. The 2 sequences most commonly included in this body of research are based on item difficulty and conceptual linkage. Considerable research has addressed both possibilities but with mixed results. To our knowledge, no literature review or meta-analysis has synthesized the disparate findings across item-sequence studies. Major conclusions emerging from our analysis were that (a) an item-difficulty sequence has little impact on exam performance either within or across thematic areas, but that (b) student perception of item difficulty may be a better predictor of exam performance than difficulty assessed by the percentage of students missing that item on previous tests. The paper concludes with an examination of procedural difficulties involved in sequencing items and the possible benefits of some facets of item-sequencing to both students and instructors.
Data from 403 third graders were analyzed to determine relative and combined efficacy of group-administered Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) and Teacher Rankings of student reading and math performance taken early in the school year to predict end-of-year achievement scores. Teacher Rankings added to the power of CBMs to predict reading ( R2 change = .18) and math ( R2 change = .22). Combined CBMs and Teacher Rankings predicted at-risk status in reading (82%) and math (86%), based on logistic regression, and yielded strong area under the curve (AUC) statistics, defining risk status .88 (reading) and .82 (math). Surprisingly, Teacher Rankings yielded higher correlations with end-of-year scores than CBMs. Findings support using rankings as a simple, efficient strategy to add to the predictive power of CBMs readily available within a response to intervention (RTI) context and depicts a methodology school personnel can use to determine the relative/combined predictive power of CBMs and rankings. Of note, predictions based on Teacher Rankings vary across end-of-year performance levels.
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