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Cognitive Abilities and Educational Outcomes. A Festschrift in Honour of Jan-Eric Gustafsson
- 2017
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This book addresses problems and challenges that face educational measurement at a time when multipurpose usage of observational data from educational assessments, tests and international surveys has become a growing global trend. While the construction of educational measures and use of educational data offer many opportunities, they also require awareness of the numerous threats to validity and methods of reducing such threats. Written by leading international scholars, the book demonstrates the complexity of educational measurement by addressing three broad and interrelated topics. The first part discusses cognitive abilities, including studies on fluid intelligence, its improvement and its links to aptitude tests for admission to higher education. The second part focuses on the effects of school and teacher-related factors on school outcomes at individual and group levels, and uses international studies to analyze causes. The third part presents analytical techniques and measurement methods to improve reliability, for example factor analysis using Bayesian estimators, bi-factor analysis, model misfit and solutions, and discusses balance issues in reporting test results. The book provides examples of state-of-the-art analytical techniques for pursuing fundamental research problems, and the latest advances in measurement methods, with a focus on validity improvement. Eminent researchers discuss and provide insights into questions such as: Is it possible to train individuals to think at a higher level than normal for their age? What determines prospective preschool teachers’ skill to perceive mathematics-related preschool situations? Can international indicator design and instruments be improved to use trends and national context variables more efficiently? Can indicator data at national, school and class levels be compared easier? Are value-added measures of teacher effectiveness valid when it comes to hiring and promoting teachers? Is money better spent on teacher training than on smaller class-size? How do theory and empirical statistical data intertwine in building structures of understanding? This book is inspired by the career and personal influence of the Swedish scholar Professor Jan-Eric Gustafsson, renowned for his research on individual differences, especially the structure of cognitive abilities, and on the effects of education on knowledge and skills.
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Educational Policy Evaluation through International Comparative Assessments
- 2014
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One of the most salient findings from the field of education is that there are huge national differences in student achievement as shown in international comparative studies like PISA and TIMSS. The shockingly large gap between the highest performing countries (mostly in East Asia) and many European countries corresponds to a difference in attainment of two years of schooling. Although this finding has been replicated in several studies, the reasons for and consequences of such differences are currently not well understood.
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- Erickson, Gudrun, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Attitudes and ambiguities – Teachers’ views on second foreign language education in Swedish compulsory school
- 2022
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Ingår i: In: C. Bardel, C. Hedman, K. Rejman & E. Zetterholm (Eds.), Exploring Language Education: Global and Local Perspectives. - Stockholm : Stockholm University Press. - 9789176351918 ; , s. 157-223
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The chapter focuses on Second foreign languages (SFLs) in Swedish compulsory school, a non-mandatory subject referred to as Modern languages in the national curricula. The study builds on results from a questionnaire answered by 315 teachers of French, German and Spanish at 186 schools across the country. After a background section comprising brief descriptions of the project (TAL) framing the study, and of SFL education in Sweden, the conceptual basis of the study is described, as is the iterative development of the questionnaire. Three areas of the questionnaire are focused upon: professional satisfaction, target language use, and the curricular status of Modern languages in Swedish compulsory school. These issues are under constant discussion in the Swedish language education context and they represent three different levels of education – the individual, pedagogical and structural levels. Within these areas, a certain degree of ambiguity can be traced concerning the relationship between some aspects of the teachers’ practices and perceptions, specifically regarding target language use in the classroom and the question whether the second foreign language should be mandatory or not in compulsory school. Furthermore, in spite of several negative issues being revealed regarding the workplace, a weak provision of in-service education, and perceived negative attitudes toward the subject Modern languages in the school and in the surrounding society, a majority of the respondents stated that they would become teachers again if they could do it all over again.
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- Erickson, Gudrun, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Can That Be Done? - On Developing High-Stakes Summative Tests for Additional Formative Purposes
- 2012
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Ingår i: Presentation vid AERA 2012 Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on an expanded view of validity, this presentation focuses on the collaborative development of high-stakes national tests of foreign languages in an assessment system that has both summative and formative aims. Students’ and teachers’ views are systematically collected in large-scale pre-testing rounds and analysed with a multifaceted research methodology. Results are used in creating information materials for formative use, composing tests and profiled reporting forms, and in setting standards. Examples are given of investigations of students’ views in relation to individual characteristics and performances, as well as of teachers’ opinions about the tests and reported use of results. Furthermore, studies of inter-rater consistency and of dimensionality are presented as components in the successive validation process.
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- Gustafsson, Jan-Eric, 1949, et al.
(författare)
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Casual Effects of Computer Availability at Home on Grade 4 Reading Achievement Estimated from Country-Level Longitudinal Data
- 2015
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Ingår i: 6 th IEA International Research Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main purpose of the study is to investigate possible effects of home computer use on the reading achievement of grade 4 students. In previous research both negative and positive effects have been reported, but these contradictory findings are likely to be due to selection bias in the observational or quasi-observational designs that have been used. The current study takes advantage of the trend design of the PIRLS study, which allows for a difference-in-difference approach to estimation which controls for within-country selection bias, time-invariant country-level omitted variables, and random errors of measurement in independent and dependent variables. The study is based on data from The IEA Ten-Year Trend Study with 9 participating countries and the PIRLS 2001, 2006 and 2011 studies with 36, 45 and 47 participants. Fixed effects regression estimation techniques based on micro-data are used. This allows estimation of main effects of home computer use, and of interaction effects with both student characteristics (gender and socio-economic status) and country characteristics (level of economic development). Preliminary analyses of main effects investigating two time-points at a time indicate negative effects of home computer on the reading achievement of Grade 4 students.
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- Gustafsson, Jan-Eric, 1949, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Home Background on Student Achievement in Reading, Mathematics, and Science at the Fourth Grade.
- 2013
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Ingår i: M. O. Martin and I. V. S. Mullis (Eds) TIMSS and PIRLS 2011: Relationships Among Reading, Mathematics, and Science Achievement at the Fourth Grade—Implications for Early Learning. - Boston College, USA : Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.. - 9781889938189 ; , s. 183-289
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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