The issue of model uncertainty has been gaining interest in education and the social sciences community over the years, and the dominant methods for handling model uncertainty are based on Bayesian inference, particularly, Bayesian model averaging. However, Bayesian model averaging assumes that the true data-generating model is within the…

With the growing attention on large-scale educational testing and assessment, the ability to process substantial volumes of response data becomes crucial. Current estimation methods within item response theory (IRT), despite their high precision, often pose considerable computational burdens with large-scale data, leading to reduced computational…

We describe how students can be encouraged to actively review course contents on inferential statistics by creating application-oriented exercises and sample solutions on the basis of concrete and realistic research articles and their data. For evaluation purposes, we use students' reactions to the activity and investigate its effects on the final…

A review of the software Just Another Gibbs Sampler (JAGS) is provided. We cover aspects related to history and development and the elements a user needs to know to get started with the program, including (a) definition of the data, (b) definition of the model, (c) compilation of the model, and (d) initialization of the model. An example using a…

The article considers a test of specification for quantile regressions. The test relies on the increase of the objective function and the worsening of the fit when unnecessary constraints are imposed. It compares the objective functions of restricted and unrestricted models and, in its different formulations, it verifies (a) forecast ability, (b)…

In this study, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to compute efficiency scores for a sample of Italian schools by employing OECD-PISA2006 data aggregated at school level. Efficiency has been defined as the ability to transform inputs (resources, student background, etc.) into outputs (student achievement). Different versions of the DEA models…

In item response theory (IRT) modeling, the item parameter error covariance matrix plays a critical role in statistical inference procedures. When item parameters are estimated using the EM algorithm, the parameter error covariance matrix is not an automatic by-product of item calibration. Cai proposed the use of Supplemented EM algorithm for…

Background: In the context of international large scale assessments, it is often not feasible to implement a complete survey of all relevant populations. For example, the OECD Program for International Student Assessment surveys both students and schools, but does not obtain information from teachers. In contrast the OECD Teaching and Learning…