Using the 2004–2009 wave of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative sample of students who enroll in college in 2004, we examine generational differences in the relationship between educational expectations, academic achievement, and college persistence among native-born and immigrant youth in the United States. Using the theory of immigrant optimism, which has primarily focused on high school youth, we examine whether immigrant parents provide children an advantage in completing their college degrees. Our analyses suggest that students who have at least one immigrant parent are (1) more likely to expect to earn advanced degrees and (2) more likely to complete college on time and less likely to withdraw with no degree compared to their counterparts with native-born parents. We also find that the higher expectations held by these students are associated with higher levels of persistence and attainment. We argue that the optimism conferred by having immigrant parents persists through young adulthood.

This report provides a description of a cognitive interview study investigating validity of assessments designed to measure content knowledge for teaching (CKT). The report is intended both to provide information on the validity of the CKT measures and to provide guidance to researchers interested in replicating the design. The study takes an argument‐based approach to investigating validity by first articulating interpretive arguments that are central to the CKT measurement theory and then using the cognitive interview data to evaluate these arguments (Kane, 2006). The study is based on 30 interviews of elementary mathematics teachers and 30 interviews of elementary English language arts teachers. Teachers were selected using previous CKT assessment scores to represent high‐ and low‐scoring groups for each subject. The cognitive interviews were conducted separately for each subject and responses were coded and then analyzed to investigate the scoring and extrapolation inferences for the validity argument. Findings strongly support the scoring inference, providing evidence that the item keying for the items is correct. Results also indicate that the participants reasoned about the item in ways that conformed with the reasoning outlined in the task design rationales (TDR) for each item. These TDRs represent what reasoning should look like for each of these items for a respondent drawing on the desired CKT knowledge. As such, conformity with the TDRs supports the extrapolation inference, providing evidence that the reasoning used by the participant represents the underlying knowledge and skill domain we intend to measure through CKT assessments. The study design, instruments, methods, and results are described in detail, with discussion included to support researchers interested in replicating or capitalizing on the study design.

The observation systems being used in all 50 states require administrators to learn to accurately and reliably score their teachers' instruction using standardized observation systems. Although the literature on observation systems is growing, relatively few studies have examined the outcomes of trainings focused on developing administrators' accuracy using observation systems and the administrators' perceptions of that training. Therefore, the focus of this study is on examining administrators' efforts to become accurate and reliable within the context of a comprehensive teacher evaluation reform. This study was conducted during the year-long training and implementation of a new observation system in the context of a large urban district's teacher evaluation reform. The study brings together data on the outcomes of the district training-results on a certification exercise from all administrators in the district-with two sources of data on administrators' perceptions and beliefs. Specifically, we collected fall and spring survey data from nearly 300 administrators and longitudinal interview data from a subsample of 24 administrators. Taken together, these data allowed us to investigate administrators' responses to training and low-stakes practice using the observation process over 1 year. At the end of initial training, administrators reported high levels of learning, particularly in domains aligned with the focus of training. Over the year, administrators reported increased facility with the routines of conducting observations, but they still expressed learning needs, many related to the content of the observation framework. However, results from the training certification test suggested lower than desired levels of accuracy and reliability; administrators regularly did not agree with each other or with master raters. The certification test results suggested that even with a significant investment in administrator learning, there was more to be learned and mastered. If we hope for teacher evaluation to lead to the types of changes in teaching and learning that reformers have envisioned, policymakers and practitioners alike will need to devote time and resources to supporting administrator learning in initial training and throughout administrator use in practice.

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