Item-writing Rules: Collective Wisdom

In student assessment, teachers place the greatest weight on tests they have constructed themselves and have an equally great interest in the quality of those tests. To increase the validity of teacher-made tests, many item-writing rules-of-thumb are available in the literature, but few rules have been tested experimentally. In light of the paucity of empirical studies, the validity of any given guideline might best be established by relying on experts. This study analyzed twenty classroom assessment textbooks to identify a consensus list of item-writing rules. Forty rules for which there was agreement among textbook authors are presented. The rules address four different validity concerns-potentially confusing wording or ambiguous requirements, the problem of guessing, test-taking efficiency, and controlling for testwiseness

Development and validation of a military fear avoidance questionnaire

Chronic pain due to musculoskeletal injury is one of the leading causes of disability and reduced combat readiness in the U.S. Army. Unidimensional pain management systems are not effective in addressing the complex phenomenon of pain-related disability. Growing evidence has supported use of the Fear Avoidance Model (FAM) as a suitable model to address pain-related disability and chronicity from a multidimensional pain neuroscience approach. While several fear avoidance measurement tools exist, one that addresses the complexity of the Army environment encouraged the authors to develop and test the reliability and validity of a military specific questionnaire. This study developed and validated an Army specific fear avoidance screening, the Return to Duty Readiness Questionnaire (RDRQ), which subsequently demonstrated good psychometric properties. Reliability coefficients demonstrate high internal consistency values both during pilot study (α = 0.96) and validation study (α = 0.94, ωt = 0.94). A Correlation Coefficient of 0.74 when compared with the Fear Avoidance Components Scale (FACS) suggests good concurrent validity. Future study should include replication in a new army population, investigation of responsiveness, test-retest reliability, structural validity and establishing severity scores with minimal clinically important differences to enhance utility

Shape functions of dipolar ferromagnets at the Curie point

We present a complete mode coupling theory for the critical dynamics of ferromagnets above the Curie point with both short range exchange and long range dipolar interaction. This theory allows us to determine the full Kubo relaxation functions at the critical point. In particular, we are able to explain recent spin echo measurements

Defining Authentic Classroom Assessment

A commonly advocated best practice for classroom assessment is to make the assessments authentic. Authentic is often used as meaning the mirroring of real-world tasks or expectations. There is no consensus, however, in the actual definition of the term or the characteristics of an authentic classroom assessment. Sometimes, the realistic component is not even an element of a researcher\u27s or practitioner\u27s meaning. This study presents a conceptual analysis of authentic as it is used in educational research and training to describe an approach to classroom assessment. Nine distinct components or dimensions of authenticity are identified and only one of those is the realistic nature of the assessment. Accessed 54,632 times on https://pareonline.net from January 12, 2012 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Balanced Literacy in an Urban School District

This is the authors' accepted manuscript, post peer-review. The publisher's official version is available electronically from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOER.98.5.272-280.Balanced literacy is a philosophical orientation that assumes that reading and writing achievement are developed through instruction and support in multiple environments using various approaches that differ by level of teacher support and child control. This study describes one urban school district’s real-world attempt to create a balance between reading and writing, between teacher-directed and student-centered activities, and between skillsbased and meaning based approaches to literacy instruction. A triangulation strategy using multiple methods of data collection, including classroom observations, inventories of the physical environment of classrooms and school buildings, teacher surveys, and student interviews, was used to measure balanced literacy components. Results suggest that teacherdirected instruction, a fundamental aspect of balanced literacy, was implemented less often than either independent reading or writing activities. Teachers appeared to be allocating instructional time as directed by district administrators, and they were implementing components of a balanced literacy program. Additionally, most school buildings had a physical environment supportive of balanced literacy. However, the amount of time devoted to instruction and modeling effective reading and writing strategies seemed too limited for a group of students with poorly developed reading and writing skills

Phase diagrams, critical and multicritical behavior of hard-core Bose-Hubbard models

We determine the zero-temperature phase diagram of the hard-core Bose-Hubbard model on a square lattice by mean-field theory supplemented by a linear spin-wave analysis. Due to the interplay between nearest and next-nearest neighbor interaction and cubic anisotropy several supersolid phases with checkerboard, stripe domain or intermediate symmetry are stabilized. The phase diagrams show three different topologies depending on the relative strength of nearest and next-nearest neighbor interaction. We also find a rich variety of new quantum critical behavior and multicritical points and discuss the corresponding effective actions and universality classes.Comment: 19 pages, ReVTeX, 18 figures included, submitted to PR

American political affiliation, 2003–43: a cohort component projection

The recent rise and stability in American party identification has focused interest on the long-term dynamics of party bases. Liberal commentators cite immigration and youth as forces which will produce a natural Democratic advantage in the future while conservative writers highlight the importance of high Republican fertility in securing Republican growth. These concerns foreground the neglect of demography within political science. This paper addresses this omission by conducting the first ever cohort component projection of American partisan populations to 2043 based on survey and census data. A number of scenarios are modeled, but, on current trends, we predict that American partisanship will shift much less than the nation’s ethnic composition because the parties’ age structures are similar. Still, our projections find that the Democrats gain two to three percentage points from the Republicans by 2043, mainly through immigration, though Republican fertility may redress the balance in the very long term

Observational Study of Telephone Consults by Stroke Experts Supporting Community Tissue Plasminogen Activator Delivery

Objectives:  Barriers to intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) use in ischemic stroke include limited treatment experience of community physicians. Models of acute stroke care have been designed to address these limitations by providing community support. These include support by telephone or televideo, with or without subsequent transport to tertiary care centers. The authors describe the frequency, characteristics, and effect of community phone consultations to a 24/7 stroke “hotline” staffed by stroke physicians at an academic stroke center using such a model. Methods:  Twelve intervention hospitals participating in the INcreasing Stroke Treatment through Interventional behavior Change Tactics (INSTINCT) trial were provided a single‐access number (“hotline”) for expert consultation on tPA use. Experts consisted of stroke‐trained physicians at an academic medical center. Hotline use was not mandated by the study protocol, nor was patient transfer required. Consultants were required to record all treatment questions in a Web‐based log. All patients discussed over the hotline and/or treated with tPA in an INSTINCT hospital underwent multilevel chart review by trained nurse coordinators. Cases were linked to logged hotline calls, based on the time of treatment and the initial treating hospital. Physician adjudicators assessed appropriateness of tPA treatment, presence of deviation from standard guidelines, and treatment complications (intracranial hemorrhage [ICH], systemic hemorrhage, or death). Results:  Over 27 months, there were a total of 204 hotline calls regarding 116 patients. Ninety‐one percent of calls were between 8 a.m. and midnight, and 77% of questions explored issues of eligibility for IV tPA, particularly for minor stroke or improving stroke (26%). A total of 243 patients were treated with IV tPA at the 12 intervention hospitals, 54 of which were following hotline consult. Seventy‐six percent of hotline patients in whom tPA was recommended actually received tPA, while 2% of those in whom tPA was not recommended received the medication. There were no differences in protocol deviations (27.8% hotline group vs. 23.8% nonhotline group), incidence of symptomatic ICH (5.6% vs. 7.3%), or in‐hospital mortality (5.6% vs. 13.2%). No medico–legal issues have been reported for any case in the study. Conclusions:  Providing tPA decision‐making support via telephone consult to community physicians is feasible and safe. Consultants may play a more prominent role in determining tPA ineligibility than acceptance. Future work should include a real‐time survey of physician providers to ascertain such potential qualitative benefits of a stroke hotline. Resumen Objetivos:  Las barreras para la utilización del activador de plasminógeno tisular (APT) intravenoso (IV) en el ictus isquémico incluyen la limitada experiencia en dicho tratamiento por parte de los médicos de hospitales comunitarios. Se han diseñado modelos de atención al ictus para reconducir estas limitaciones través de darles soporte. Este soporte incluye ayudas por teléfono o videoconferencia, con o sin el transporte posterior a los centros de atención terciaria. Se describe la frecuencia, características y efecto de las consultas telefónicas de los médicos de hospitales comunitarios a la línea telefónica directa permanente de ictus supervisada por médicos especialistas en patología cerebrovascular en un centro de ictus universitario utilizando dicho modelo. Métodos:  La intervención se realizó en doce hospitales que participaron en el estudio INcreasing Stroke Treatment through Interventional behavior Change Tactics (INSTINCT). Los hospitales estaban provistos de un número de acceso único (línea de acceso directo) para consultas a expertos en el uso de APT. Los expertos eran médicos formados en ictus en un centro médico universitario. El uso de la línea de acceso directo no era obligado por el protocolo del estudio ni por la necesidad de traslado del paciente. Se requirió a los especialistas grabar todas las preguntas sobre el tratamiento en un registro electrónico. Todos los pacientes consultados en la línea directa de teléfono y/o tratados con APT en un hospital del estudio INSTINCT fueron revisados por los coordinadores de enfermería con formación específica. Los casos fueron posteriormente vinculados a las llamadas registradas, en base al tiempo de tratamiento y al tratamiento inicial en el hospital. Los médicos revisores valoraron si el tratamiento APT era apropiado o se desviaba de las guías clínicas establecidas, así como sus complicaciones (hemorragia intracraneal, hemorragia sistémica o muerte). Resultados:  Durante los 27 meses, hubo un total de 204 llamadas telefónicas de 116 pacientes. Un 91% de las llamadas fueron entre las 8 y las 24 horas, un 77% de las preguntas era sobre cuestiones de indicación para el uso del APT IV, especialmente para ictus menores o ictus en mejoría (26%). Un total de 243 pacientes se trataron con APT IV en los 12 hospitales donde se realizó la intervención, 54 de los cuales fueron tras la consulta telefónica. Un 76% de los pacientes consultados telefónicamente en los que el APT fue recomendado lo recibió, mientras que esto sucedió en el 2% de aquéllos en los que el APT no estaba recomendado. No hubo diferencias en las desviaciones del protocolo (27,8% del grupo con línea telefónica vs. 23,8% del grupo sin línea telefónica), en la incidencia de hemorragia intracraneal sintomática (5,6% vs. 7,3%) o en la mortalidad intrahospitalaria (5,6% vs. 13,2%). No se documentó ningún problema médico‐legal. Conclusiones:  El proporcionar ayuda telefónica a los médicos de hospitales comunitarios para la toma de decisión de administrar el APT es viable y seguro. Los médicos especialistas pueden jugar un papel más destacado en determinar la no elegibilidad de pacientes para el uso de APT que para asentar su indicación. Futuros trabajos deberían incluir una encuesta a tiempo real a los médicos de hospitales comunitarios para determinar el potencial beneficio cualitativo de una línea telefónica de directa ictus.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93745/1/j.1553-2712.2012.01438.x.pd

Push-pull farming systems

Farming systems for pest control, based on the stimulo-deterrent diversionary strategy or push–pull system, have become an important target for sustainable intensification of food production. A prominent example is push–pull developed in sub-Saharan Africa using a combination of companion plants delivering semiochemicals, as plant secondary metabolites, for smallholder farming cereal production, initially against lepidopterous stem borers. Opportunities are being developed for other regions and farming ecosystems. New semiochemical tools and delivery systems, including GM, are being incorporated to exploit further opportunities for mainstream arable farming systems. By delivering the push and pull effects as secondary metabolites, for example, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene repelling pests and attracting beneficial insects, problems of high volatility and instability are overcome and compounds are produced when and where required

A Scanning Hartmann Focus Test for the EUVI Telescopes aboard STEREO

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, was launched in 2006 on a two year mission to study solar phenomena. STEREO consists of two nearly identical satellites, each carrying an Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) telescope as part of the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation instrument suite. EUVI is a normal incidence, 98mm diameter, Ritchey-Chretien telescope designed to obtain wide field of view images of the Sun at short wavelengths (17.1-30.4nm) using a CCD detector. The telescope entrance aperture is divided into four quadrants by a mask near the secondary mirror spider veins. A mechanism that rotates another mask allows only one of these sub-apertures to accept light over an exposure. The EUVI contains no focus mechanism. Mechanical models predict a difference in telescope focus between ambient integration conditions and on-orbit operation. We describe an independent check of the ambient, ultraviolet, absolute focus setting of the EUVI telescopes after they were integrated with their respective spacecraft. A scanning Hartmann-like test design resulted from constraints implied by the EUVI aperture select mechanism. This inexpensive test was simultaneously coordinated with other NASA integration and test activities in a high-vibration, clean room environment. The total focus test error was required to be better than +/-0.05 mm. We describe the alignment and test procedure, sources of statistical and systematic error, and then the focus determination results using various algorithms. The results are consistent with other tests of focus alignment and indicate that the EUVI telescopes meet the ambient focus offset requirements. STEREO is functioning well on-orbit and the EUVI telescopes meet their on-orbit image quality requirements