This study addresses the high stakes nature of teacher performance assessments and consequential outcomes of passing versus failing based on decisions of those who subjectively score them. Specifically, this study examines the inter-rater reliability of an emerging national model, the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT). Current reports on the inter-rater reliability of PACT u...

BACKGROUND Considerable variability exists in clinical approaches to thoracolumbar fractures. Controversy in evaluation and nomenclature contribute to this confusion, with significant differences found between physicians, between different specialties, and in different geographic regions. A new classification system for thoracolumbar injuries, the Thoracolumbar Injury Severity Score (TLISS), wa...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Outcome measurement fidelity within and between sites of multi-site, randomized, clinical trials is an essential element to meaningful trial outcomes. As important are the methods developed for randomized, clinical trials that can have practical utility for clinical practice. A standardized measurement method and rater training program were developed for the total Fugl-Me...

In this paper we consider the problem of constructing confidence intervals and lower bounds for the intraclass correlation coefficient in an interrater reliability study where the raters are randomly selected from a population of raters.The likelihood function of the interrater reliability is derived and simplified, and the profile likelihood based approach is readily available for computing th...

Rating scales for outcome variables produce categorical data which are often ordered and measurements from rating scales are not standardized. The purpose of this study is to apply commonly used and novel methods for paired ordered categorical data to two data sets with different properties and to compare the results and the conditions for use of these models. The two applications consist of a ...

[Purpose] This study investigated intra-rater reliability when using a tympanic thermometer under different self-measurement conditions. [Subjects and Methods] Ten males participated. Intra-rater reliability was assessed by comparing the values under three conditions of measurement using a tympanic thermometer. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess intra-rater reliability. [Re...

BACKGROUND A wide variety of psoriasis assessment tools have been proposed to evaluate the severity of psoriasis in clinical trials and daily practice. The most frequently used clinical instrument is the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI); however, none of the currently published severity scores used for psoriasis meets all the validation criteria required for an ideal score. OBJECTIVES...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of the Cartesian Optoelectronic Dynamic Anthropometer (CODA) motion system in measuring the cervical range of motion (ROM) and verify the construct validity of the CODA motion system. A total of 26 patients with cervical spondylosis and 22 patients with anterior cervical fusion were enrolled and the CODA motion analysis system was use...

BACKGROUND Outcome measures are important when evaluating treatments and physiological progress in paediatric populations. Reliable, relevant measures of foot posture are important for such assessments to be accurate over time. The aim of the study was to assess the intra- and inter-rater reliability of common outcome measures for paediatric foot conditions. METHODS A repeated measures, same-...