It\u27s all about validity: preparing TIMSS and PIRLS background questionnaires for the 21st century

International large-scale assessments are facing several challenges: it is expected that they deliver reliable and comparable information on different levels of educational systems as well as documenting the situation of educational systems every few years as trend information over time. This means that the instruments used to gather the information need to be adapted to actual situations in each cycle of the study as well as focusing on information that is sufficiently important for trend observations over the different cycles. In order to gather actual information as well as assessing reliable and valid information over time, this involves walking on a tightrope. The challenge here is to predict what is currently important and what will also be relevant in the future. (DIPF/Orig.)Der Beitrag beleuchtet im Kontext von TIMSS und PIRLS die Frage nach der Validität im Spannungsfeld zwischen einer Anpassung von Testinstrumenten an sich wandelnde Bildungssysteme sowie dem Bedarf an Trenduntersuchungen über mehrere Erhebungszyklen, für welche sich Testinstrumente nicht verändern sollten. (DIPF/Orig.

Leistungsstark und gerecht? Entwicklungen von Grundschulsystemen im europäischen Vergleich

With the ET 2020 framework European countries have agreed to strive to increase the quality and equity of their educational systems. This study investigates to which extent countries and especially Germany have succeeded in both. Trends over time in educational quality with regard to achievement levels, heterogeneity, equality, equity, participatory and recognition justice amongst 18 European Union members states were investigated using data from PIRLS 2001 to 2016 and TIMSS 2003 to 2015. Results indicate that only 5 countries show positive developments in both equity and quality. (DIPF/Orig.

Maßnahmen und Ansatzpunkte zur Verbesserung der quantitativen Marktinformationen bei Öko-Produkten und Möglichkeiten ihrer Konkretisierung

Eine Verbesserung der unzureichenden Datenbasis über den Öko-Markt in Deutschland stand im Mittelpunkt des Projektes. Dazu wurden bestehende Datenquellen daraufhin geprüft, ob sie die gewünschten Daten liefern und für welche Vermarktungsebenen bereit stellen können. Die ursprünglich angedachte Totalerfassung über die Kontrollstellen erwies sich als nicht umsetzbar. Zweckmäßige Erweiterungen vorhandener Statistiken und Erhebungen zur Informationsbeschaffung für den Öko-Bereich wurden am Beispiel Öko-Mühlen getestet. Trotz deren grundsätzlicher Zustimmung zum Vorhaben waren ihre Mitwirkung und das Ergebnis enttäuschend. Der Aufwand, der nötig wäre, um eine solche freiwillige Form der Datengewinnung breit und dauerhaft in der Praxis zu implementieren, ist sehr hoch. Alternativ wurde die Ausweitung der Meldepflichten im Rahmen bestehender Erhebungen untersucht. Auch dieser Ansatz erwies sich als sehr aufwändig und in der Praxis aufgrund nicht ausreichend vorhandener Bereitschaft zur Unterstützung als nicht realisierbar. In einer Primärerhebung wurden 71 Erzeugergemeinschaften/Erzeugerzusammenschlüsse ermittelt. 69 von ihnen machten Angaben über die von ihnen erfassten und vermarkteten Öko-Produkte. Sie flossen in aktuelle Übersichten über Marktstruktur und Absatzwege, Nachfrage, Angebot sowie Preise auf wichtigen Öko-Märkten und ihrer Entwicklungstendenzen ein. Diese Marktübersichten wurden für die Produktbereiche Getreide, Obst, Gemüse, Kartoffeln, Milch, Fleisch und Eier erstellt, wobei im Fleischbereich noch nach Rindfleisch, Schweinefleisch und Geflügelfleisch differenziert wurde. Damit konnte die Informationsbasis über die genannten Öko-Märkte aktualisiert und deutlich verbreitert werden. Neben der Ermittlung verlässlicher und belastbarer Ausgangsdaten ist auch die Bereitstellung der Daten in geeigneter und ansprechender Form als ein wesentlicher Schritt zur Erhöhung der Markttransparenz anzusehen. Dazu wurde im Rahmen des Projektes eine Datenbank erstellt. Sie enthält zahlreiche Informationen zur Produktion, zum Handel, zu einzelnen Unternehmen, zur Verbraucherebene und zu Fördermaßnahmen. Im Nachgang zu diesem Projekt soll sie internetfähig gemacht werden

Case management for the treatment of patients with major depression in general practices – rationale, design and conduct of a cluster randomized controlled trial – PRoMPT (Primary care Monitoring for depressive Patient's Trial) [ISRCTN66386086] – Study protocol

BACKGROUND: Depression is a disorder with high prevalence in primary health care and a significant burden of illness. The delivery of health care for depression, as well as other chronic illnesses, has been criticized for several reasons and new strategies to address the needs of these illnesses have been advocated. Case management is a patient-centered approach which has shown efficacy in the treatment of depression in highly organized Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) settings and which might also be effective in other, less structured settings. METHODS/DESIGN: PRoMPT (PRimary care Monitoring for depressive Patients Trial) is a cluster randomised controlled trial with General Practice (GP) as the unit of randomisation. The aim of the study is to evaluate a GP applied case-management for patients with major depressive disorder. 70 GPs were randomised either to intervention group or to control group with the control group delivering usual care. Each GP will include 10 patients suffering from major depressive disorder according to the DSM-IV criteria. The intervention group will receive treatment based on standardized guidelines and monthly telephone monitoring from a trained practice nurse. The nurse investigates the patient's status concerning the MDD criteria, his adherence to GPs prescriptions, possible side effects of medication, and treatment goal attainment. The control group receives usual care – including recommended guidelines. Main outcome measure is the cumulative score of the section depressive disorders (PHQ-9) from the German version of the Prime MD Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D). Secondary outcome measures are the Beck-Depression-Inventory, self-reported adherence (adapted from Moriskey) and the SF-36. In addition, data are collected about patients' satisfaction (EUROPEP-tool), medication, health care utilization, comorbidity, suicide attempts and days out of work. The study comprises three assessment times: baseline (T0) , follow-up after 6 months (T1) and follow-up after 12 months (T2). DISCUSSION: Depression is now recognized as a disorder with a high prevalence in primary care but with insufficient treatment response. Case management seems to be a promising intervention which has the potential to bridge the gap of the usually time-limited and fragmented provision of care. Case management has been proven to be effective in several studies but its application in the private general medical practice setting remains unclear

Discovery of 95 PTSD loci provides insight into genetic architecture and neurobiology of trauma and stress-related disorders

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) genetics are characterized by lower discoverability than most other psychiatric disorders. The contribution to biological understanding from previous genetic studies has thus been limited. We performed a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across 1,222,882 individuals of European ancestry (137,136 cases) and 58,051 admixed individuals with African and Native American ancestry (13,624 cases). We identified 95 genome-wide significant loci (80 novel). Convergent multi-omic approaches identified 43 potential causal genes, broadly classified as neurotransmitter and ion channel synaptic modulators (e.g., GRIA1, GRM8, CACNA1E ), developmental, axon guidance, and transcription factors (e.g., FOXP2, EFNA5, DCC ), synaptic structure and function genes (e.g., PCLO, NCAM1, PDE4B ), and endocrine or immune regulators (e.g., ESR1, TRAF3, TANK ). Additional top genes influence stress, immune, fear, and threat-related processes, previously hypothesized to underlie PTSD neurobiology. These findings strengthen our understanding of neurobiological systems relevant to PTSD pathophysiology, while also opening new areas for investigation

Assuming measurement invariance of background indicators in international comparative educational achievement studies: a challenge for the interpretation of achievement differences

Abstract Background Large-scale cross-national studies designed to measure student achievement use different social, cultural, economic and other background variables to explain observed differences in that achievement. Prior to their inclusion into a prediction model, these variables are commonly scaled into latent background indices. To allow cross-national comparisons of the latent indices, measurement invariance is assumed. However, it is unclear whether the assumption of measurement invariance has some influence on the results of the prediction model, thus challenging the reliability and validity of cross-national comparisons of predicted results. Methods To establish the effect size attributed to different degrees of measurement invariance, we rescaled the ‘home resource for learning index’ (HRL) for the 37 countries ( $$n=166,709$$ n = 166 , 709 students) that participated in the IEA’s combined ‘Progress in International Reading Literacy Study’ (PIRLS) and ‘Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study’ (TIMSS) assessments of 2011. We used (a) two different measurement models [one-parameter model (1PL) and two-parameter model (2PL)] with (b) two different degrees of measurement invariance, resulting in four different models. We introduced the different HRL indices as predictors in a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with mathematics achievement as the dependent variable. We then compared three outcomes across countries and by scaling model: (1) the differing fit-values of the measurement models, (2) the estimated discrimination parameters, and (3) the estimated regression coefficients. Results The least restrictive measurement model fitted the data best, and the degree of assumed measurement invariance of the HRL indices influenced the random effects of the GLMM in all but one country. For one-third of the countries, the fixed effects of the GLMM also related to the degree of assumed measurement invariance. Conclusion The results support the use of country-specific measurement models for scaling the HRL index. In general, equating procedures could be used for cross-national comparisons of the latent indices when country-specific measurement models are fitted. Cross-national comparisons of the coefficients of the GLMM should take into account the applied measurement model for scaling the HRL indices. This process could be achieved by, for example, adjusting the standard errors of the coefficients

MOESM1 of Subject-specific strength and weaknesses of fourth-grade students in Europe: a comparative latent profile analysis of multidimensional proficiency patterns based on PIRLS/TIMSS combined 2011

Additional file 1. Appendix S1. Additional figures

KESS 4: Database manual, documentation of instruments

In diesem Skalenhandbuch werden die Erhebungsinstrumente der Schulleistungsstudie „Kompetenzen und Einstellungen von Schülerinnen und Schülern – Jahrgangsstufe 4“ (KESS 4) dargestellt, an der im Frühjahr 2003 knapp 14.000 Hamburger Schülerinnen und Schüler am Ende der Jahrgangsstufe 4 teilgenommen haben. KESS 4 ist die erste Erhebungswelle einer Längsschnittstudie, die sich mit Leistungsentwicklung in den Domänen Deutsch, Mathematik, Englisch und Naturwissenschaften sowie der Entwicklung der Einstellungen von Schülerinnen und Schülern vom Ende der Grundschulzeit bis zum Ende der Sekundarstufe befasst. Die in diesem Skalenhandbuch dargestellten Erhebungsinstrumente umfassen Fragebögen für Schülerinnen und Schüler, deren Eltern sowie deren Lehrkräfte und die jeweiligen Schulleitungen. (IPN/Orig.