This study incorporates a random forest (RF) approach to probe complex interactions and nonlinearity among predictors into an item response model with the goal of using a hybrid approach to outperform either an RF or explanatory item response model (EIRM) only in explaining item responses. In the specified model, called EIRM-RF, predicted values…

In this study, we applied elastic-net logistic regression to explore critical predictors of students' mathematics and science levels using data from eighth-grade students in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The elastic-net approach, a machine learning based approach combining Ridge and Least Absolute…

Item response tree (IRTree) models are a flexible framework to control self-reported trait measurements for response styles. To this end, IRTree models decompose the responses to rating items into sub-decisions, which are assumed to be made on the basis of either the trait being measured or a response style, whereby the effects of such person…

This study focused on the relationships between teacher characteristics and students' mathematics achievement in EU countries, including Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden, and Turkey, which are the only EU countries participated in TIMSS 2015 at the eighth-grade level. The data consisted of the sample of 31,969 eighth-grade…

Disengaged responding poses a severe threat to the validity of educational large-scale assessments, because item responses from unmotivated test-takers do not reflect their actual ability. Existing identification approaches rely primarily on item response times, which bears the risk of misclassifying fast engaged or slow disengaged responses.…

Lagged dependent variables (LDVs) are often used as predictors in ordinary least squares (OLS) models in the social sciences. Although several estimators are commonly employed, little is known about their relative merits in the presence of classical measurement error and different longitudinal processes. We assess the performance of four commonly…

Sample size and statistical power are important factors to consider when planning a research synthesis. Power analysis methods have been developed for fixed effect or random effects models, but until recently these methods were limited to simple data structures with a single, independent effect per study. Recent work has provided power…

Background: Vocabulary knowledge (VK) and morphological awareness (MA) are crucial linguistic variables for reading comprehension. However, the extent to which MA subskills are intertwined with different facets of VK in their contributions to reading comprehensions, and how MA influences the reading abilities of English as a foreign language (EFL)…

Modest correlations between teacher-assigned grades and external assessments of academic achievement (r = 0.40-0.60) have led many educational stakeholders to deem grades subjective and unreliable. However, theoretical and methodological challenges, such as construct misalignment, data unavailability and sample unrepresentativeness, limit the…

Practice testing (i.e., practice retrieval) has been established as an effective learning strategy. Uncovering potential factors influencing self-testing usage is a prerequisite to promote its practical use. The present study reports five experiments exploring whether test anxiety (TA) and test stake (1) affect self-testing usage (Experiments 1-5)…

This quantitative, correlational-predictive study examined the predictive relationship of the NWEA's Map Growth projected proficiency report data with students' STAAR scores in the area of mathematics, using archival data from the 2021-2022 school year. The theoretical foundation for this study was provided by Vygotsky's zone of proximal…

Knowledge is an important predictor and outcome of learning and development. Its measurement is challenged by the fact that knowledge can be integrated and homogeneous, or fragmented and heterogeneous, which can change through learning. These characteristics of knowledge are at odds with current standards for test development, demanding a high…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading Rasch unIT (RIT) score and State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) reading achievement among English learners in Grades 8 and 9. The study also…

The aim of the study is to reveal the concurrent validity of the Central Examination of Secondary Education Institutions (OKMS). For this purpose, the relationship between the OKMS subtest raw scores of the students who took the exam and the 8th-grade year-end achievement scores of the courses within the scope of the exam was analyzed by canonical…

Vocabulary tests administered on multilingual populations should take into account the unique linguistic and cultural makeup of the population by adopting test development methods that allow responses in several languages. Our aims were to develop a picture-naming test for multilingual Lebanese school-age children (L1: Lebanese, L2: French and/or…