Kelly D. Bradley

A new BIA equation estimating the body composition of young children.

Bioelectric impedance analyses (BIA) provides a valid and reliable measure of body composition in field, clinical, and research settings if standard protocol procedures are followed, and population‐specific equations are available and utilized. The objective of this study was to create and cross‐validate a new BIA body composition equation with representative healthy weight (HW), overweight (OW), and obese (OB) young children. Participants were 436 children who were 5–11 years of age. Dual‐energy absorptiometry fat‐free mass (FFM) was used as the criterion measure and a single frequency tetra‐polar BIA device was used to create the new BIA equation. The new BIA equation explained 95.2% of the variance in FFM with no statistical shrinkage upon cross‐validation. The use of this equation may help to identify effective intervention strategies to prevent or combat childhood obesity, and may assist in additional conditions or treatments where information concerning body composition measures would provide greater accuracy and sensitivity measures for preventing or combating disease.

A Multilevel Modelling Approach to Investigating Factors Impacting Science Achievement for Secondary School Students: PISA Hong Kong Sample

This study utilized data from the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong sample to investigate the factors that impact the science achievement of 15-year-old students. A multilevel model was used to examine the factors from both student and school perspectives. At the student level, the results indicated that male students, students from high socioeconomic status (SES) families, students with higher motivation and higher self-efficacy, and students whose parents highly value science are more likely to demonstrate achievement in science. At the school level, the results showed school science achievement differences can be explained by school enrolment size, school SES composition, and instruction time per week. Contrary to the negative influence of school size that was reported in previous studies, our findings suggested a positive relationship between school enrolment size and science achievement. This finding leads to an international discussion of school size.

Urban Secondary Educators' Views of Teacher Recruitment and Retention:

This inquiry is directed at understanding the factors related to recruitment and retention of urban secondary teachers. Data were collected via selected response questionnaires from 815 public high school teachers in a large Midwest city. The findings provide implications for urban centers in the U.S. educational system from the classroom teachers perspective, by identifying the qualities associated with the best teachers and recognizing the incentives and charac teristics connected with career satisfaction and successful recruiting techniques. Motivating factors for these teachers are intrinsic more than extrinsic.

Asymmetric confidence bands for simple linear regression over bounded intervals

Abstract Computation of simultaneous confidence bands is described for simple linear regressions where the band is constructed to be asymmetric about the predictor mean. Both two-sided and one-sided bands are constructed. The bands represent extensions of a class of symmetric confidence bands due to Bowden, 1970. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 65, 413–421. An example illustrates the computations, and a WWW-based applet for computing the bands is described.

Teaching strategies related to successful sight-singing in Kentucky choral ensembles

In 2002, the Festival Commission of the Kentucky Music Educators Association (KMEA) initiated a sight-singing component to be included in the district choral performance evaluation. This was instituted in an effort to hold choral directors accountable for teaching music literacy skills to their choirs. Without such a measure, it would be possible for a choir to sing difficult choral literature with a polished sound, but to have learned it all by rote. This measure also supports the National Standards for Arts Education, which emphasize the importance of sight-singing accurately and expressively (Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, 1994). Sight-singing scores did not count toward the total score in the first two years of the festival, 2002 and 2003. Beginning in 2004, sight-singing scores were combined with the prepared performance scores to compute an overall score for the choir. Choirs that received an overall distinguished rating were eligible to advance to the state performance evaluation. Nationwide, 43 states provide a statewide performance evaluation for choral ensembles; of those states, 25 require participation in adjudicated sight-singing (Norris, 2004). The purpose of this study was to determine common teaching strategies of directors whose choirs are successful at sight-singing. Successful sightsinging was defined as receiving the highest possible score in the KMEA district choral performance evaluation.

Applying the Rasch Rating Scale Model to Gain Insights into Students' Conceptualisation of Quality Mathematics Instruction

Teacher quality has become a national policy concern in the US, especially in mathematics. This study provides insights into the conceptualisation of high quality mathematics teaching from the perspective of approximately 750 students in grades nine through twelve. Results from Rasch analysis yield information about the quality of theMathematics Quality Survey constructed for this study and the hierarchy of items representing varying levels of quality as perceived by the students. Group interviews with teachers and open-ended responses from students are used to support the findings. This study lays the groundwork for understanding the difference between being qualified and being a quality teacher.

Utilizing the Rasch Model to Develop and Evaluate Items for the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Superintendents (TKIS)

Tacit knowledge was originally introduced into the professional literature by Michael Polanyi and later made popular by researchers in a variety of domains. Measuring this implicit form of procedural knowledge requires multiple approaches to adequately “capture†what is often known, but not easily articulated. The present study combines use of Sternberg et al.’s framework for capturing domain-specific tacit knowledge with that of Rasch modeling to develop and validate items for use on a newly developed tacit knowledge inventory. Development of the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Superintendents (TKIS) occurred in three phases, including two phases of piloting and Rasch analysis. For illustrative purposes, presentation of results is limited to the Rasch analyses conducted on interpersonal tacit knowledge items. However, the methodology extends its usefulness to researchers and practitioners to guide the development process of similar assessments.

Development and dissemination of KEEP - kentucky electronics education project

The Kentucky Electronics Education Project (KEEP) uses microelectronics as a theme in developing math, science, and technology curriculum materials drawing on the breadth of content encompassed by microelectronics and the prevalence of electronics in everyday life. KEEP involves curriculum development, teacher workshops, and classroom activities initiated by the educational outreach aspects of two NSF research grants. The emphasis of KEEP is not vocational training; rather it is the use of a real world example as a theme to integrate basic principles from different disciplines. Lesson plans related to circuit building activities connect the process steps to National Math, Science, and Technology Standards. Assessment tools are under development to formalize the educational impact of the hands-on projects. Currently, teachers trained through summer workshops are implementing KEEP into their science classes, utilizing new student assessment tools, and providing preand post-evaluations. Based on their feedback, we will determine effective classroom practices, improve the instructional materials, and update the workshop format.

Investigating adjudicator bias in concert band evaluations: An application of the Many-Facets Rasch Model

Prior research indicates mixed findings regarding the consistency of adjudicators’ ratings at large ensemble festivals, yet the results of these festivals have strong impacts on the perceived success of instrumental music programs and the perceived effectiveness of their directors. In this study, Rasch modeling was used to investigate the potential influence of adjudicators on performance ratings at a live large ensemble festival. Evaluation forms from a junior high school concert band festival adjudicated by a panel of three expert judges were analyzed using the Many-Facets Rasch Model. Analyses revealed several trends. First, the use of assigning “half points” between adjacent response options on the 5-point rating scale resulted in redundancy and measurement noise. Second, adjudicators provided relatively similar ratings for conceptually distinct criteria, which could be evidence of a halo effect. Third, although all judges demonstrated relatively lenient ratings overall, one judge provided more severe ratings as compared to peers. Finally, an exploratory interaction analysis among the facets of judges and bands indicated the presence of rater-mediated bias. Implications for music researchers and ensemble adjudicators are discussed in the context of ensemble performance evaluations, and a measurement framework that can be applied to other aspects of music performance evaluations is introduced.