There is paucity of detailed information in the literature on how to develop procedures for estimating content validity to increase trustworthiness of assessment instruments. The authors present three unique examples, interpretation, and application of Tables of Specifications (ToS) for generating these estimates. The development and logic of the ToS requires presenting evidence that has transparency and creates trustworthiness in the validity estimates by maintaining an audit trail and using of triangulation, expert debriefing, and peer review. The argument presented is that content validity requires a mixed methods approach since data are developed through qualitative and quantitative methods that inform each other. This process is iterative and provides feedback on the effectiveness of the ToS through a process of determining consensus.

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Completing doctoral dissertations is difficult work and may be harder for distance students physically separated from institutional and collegial supports. Inability to complete independent research contributes to doctoral student attrition. Factors impacting completion include institutional factors, student characteristics, and supervisory arrangements (Manathunga, 2005). This paper shares proactive strategies used by a Midwestern university in the United States to support distance doctoral students. Strategies and technology tools are described that (a) cultivate a shared culture of responsibility and commitment, (b) increase effective communication between researchers, and (c) grow departmental and institutional services and technologies for faculty and students. This paper suggests the use of a specific framework to help students develop a shared culture of responsibility. This framework encourages students to discuss their social network, as well as teaches students how to manage their split life by using a tool which evaluates a student's readiness for the dissertation process and maps out where dissertation skills and knowledge are developed throughout the program. Strategies for effective communication include availability, effective feedback, trust, and humor. Services and technologies provided to build capacity include the use of online and library resources, campus-wide use of research software, writing and research services, and department supports and processes to promote student research. These mechanisms for accountability, mentoring, training, and trust increase the likelihood of success.

A course design question for self-paced courses includes whether or not technological measures should be used in course design to force students to follow the sequence intended by the course author. This study examined learner behavior to understand whether the sequence of student assignment submissions in a self-paced distance course is related to successful completion of the course. The study included 543 students in 89 different general education courses at a private university in the United States during a two year period. Results indicate that students who completed at least one assignment or exam out of the intended sequence of instruction were more likely to complete the course. Results were consistent when replicating the analysis with subsets of the data by course characteristics such delivery type, content, course format, and course level; and student demographics such as ethnicity, gender, GPA, and class standing. Learner control and self-direction within online self-paced courses should be included in course design to increase the likelihood of learner successful completion. Additional research could benefit course design and student support to promote higher rates of completion in self-paced courses.

Problem. The role of the coordinator and factors affecting their ability to support curriculum videoconferencing in relationship to the utilization of videoconferencing in the school have not been thoroughly studied. The focus of this study is the videoconference coordinatorand their influence on the utilization of videoconferencing. Method. A measure of the usage of curriculum videoconferencing was developed and compared to a multidimensional conceptualization of factors influencing usage. The conceptualization included the development of a K12 Curriculum Videoconferencing Implementation Scale, as well as measures of educational service agency support, technical support, administrative support, and school and demographic variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the variables that predict usage of curriculum videoconferencing. The 277 coordinators who participated in the study were from six countries and 31 U.S. states. Results. A prediction model was developed from variables that maximize the prediction of total usage of videoconferencing in the curriculum. Variables that positively contributed to the prediction model included elementary school as the level of school, female coordinators, a 2-year degree, coordinator's job title as paraprofessional or teacher, support from an educational service agency that facilitates videoconferences, location of the system as a mobile cart, the coordinator's ability to work with teachers, teacher's attitudes, and principal support. Variables that negatively contributed to the prediction model included training of mostly technical content, location of the system as coordinator supporting multiple systems, and videoconference quality. Conclusions. The major findings of this study provide an understanding of who may be the best videoconference coordinator in a school, the importance and design of educational service agency support, the non-significance of some of the administrative variables, and the development of a scale that has good estimates of psychometric properties, reliability, and validity estimates that can predict the usage of videoconferencing. In addition, a multidimensional perspective was developed to predict the usage of videoconferencing that includes school and coordinator demographics, administrative support variables, and the K12 Curriculum Videoconferencing Implementation Scale.