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Academic achievements are often assessed in written exams and tests using selection-type (e.g., multiple-choice; MC) and supply-type (e.g., constructed-response; CR) item response formats. The present article examines how MC items and CR items differ with regard to reliability and criterion validity in two educational large-scale assessments with fourth-graders. The reading items of PIRLS 2006 were compiled into MC scales, CR scales, and mixed scales. Scale reliabilities were estimated according to item response theory (international PIRLS sample; n = 119,413). MC showed smaller standard errors than CR around the reading proficiency mean, whereas CR was more reliable for low and high proficiency levels. In the German sample (n = 7,581), there was no format-specific differential validity (criterion: German grades, r ˜ .5; ?r = 0.01). The mathematics items of TIMSS 2007 (n = 160,922) showed similar reliability patterns. MC validity was slightly larger than CR validity (criterion: mathematics grades; n = 5,111; r ˜ .5, ?r = –0.02). Effects of format-specific test-extensions were very small in both studies. It seems that in PIRLS and TIMSS, reliability and validity do not depend substantially on response formats. Consequently, other response format characteristics (like the cost of development, administration, and scoring) should be considered when choosing between MC and CR. ; This research was prepared with the support of the German funds "Bund-Länder-Programm für bessere Studienbedingungen und mehr Qualität in der Lehre ('Qualitätspakt Lehre')" [the joint program of the Federal and States Government for better study conditions and the quality of teaching in higher education ("the Teaching Quality Pact")] at Saarland University (funding code: 01PL11012). The authors developed the topic and the content of this manuscript independently from this funding. We thank the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) at Technical University Dortmund / the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (MPIB) Berlin / the ...

Compulsory military service is a uniformed life event disrupting the lives of young men (and sometimes women) in countries with conscription. Consequently, the development of personality and subjective well-being during service was investigated using representative population data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. In line with previous findings, men who chose military service revealed descriptively lower agreeableness than those who did civil service (d = -0.33). Contrasting previous research, agreeableness ratings remained stable in both groups. Conscientiousness increased in both groups (n2 = .067). The potentially disruptive nature of conscription is not reflected in the present longitudinal results.Overall, personality traits and life satisfaction appear to remain remarkably stable despite the substantial changes of living environments and daily routines associated with military service.

Der Lehrerberuf wird mit viel Freizeit, aber auch mit einer hohen Stressbelastung assoziiert. Bisherige Befunde zu Belastungen im Lehrerberuf sind widersprüchlich und weisen Interpretationsgrenzen auf. Basierend auf den repräsentativen Daten des Sozio-Ökonomischen Panels (SOEP) kontrastierten wir Arbeitszufriedenheit und -belastung von 425 Lehrkräften mit Vergleichsgruppen anderer Berufe (u. a. Erzieher, Ärzte) im Querschnitt (2006) und Längsschnitt (bis 2011). Querschnittlich war die Arbeitszufriedenheit in keiner Gruppe höher als bei den Lehrkräften; ihre berufliche Anerkennung differierte kaum von den Vergleichsgruppen. Über die Hälfte der Lehrkräfte bekundete Belastung durch Zeitdruck. Arbeitszufriedenheit, fehlende Anerkennung und empfundener Zeitdruck der Lehrkräfte veränderten sich im Längsschnitt nicht signifikant. Die längsschnittliche Veränderung dieser Variablen korrelierte nicht bedeutsam mit Persönlichkeitseigenschaften (Big Five), Geschlecht, Alter und Berufserfahrung. Die hohe Arbeitszufriedenheit spricht zusammen mit der überwiegend ausreichenden Anerkennung gegen eine massive Gratifikationskrise im Lehrerberuf.