The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) mathematics items measure critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, and the ability to apply skills and knowledge to real-world problems. Students are asked to solve problems involving the key knowledge and skills for their grade level as identified by the Common Core…

This Framework builds upon the foundation of the 2010 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics as well as versions of the Massachusetts Mathematics Framework published since 1995. The current Framework incorporates improvements suggested by Massachusetts educators after six years of experience in implementing the 2010 standards in their…

Most researchers using analysis of variance (ANOVA) use a fixed-effects model. However, a random- or mixed-effects model may be a more appropriate fit for many research designs. One benefit of the random- and mixed-effects models is that they yield more generalizable results. This paper focuses on the similarities and differences between the…

Proposes a model to help Catholic school budget planners understand a series of significant factors which can predict enrollment and stabilize the budget process. Details the reliability of the model through eight successive years of testing at Bishop Foley High School in Detroit. (CBC)

This book is combined with a Web site to allow the reader to acquire the basic concepts of item response theory without becoming enmeshed in the underlying mathematical and computational complexities. The first edition, with its accompanying software, was designed to give the reader access to the basic concepts of item response theory without…

One of the major theoretical and practical developments in testing is latent trait analysis and item response theory. This report provides a guide for practitioners in understanding, evaluating, and using these developments to meet their testing needs. (Author)

The use of computational diagrams and nomographs for the calculations that frequently occur in college administration is examined. Steps in constructing a nomograph and a four-dimensional computational diagram are detailed, and uses of three- and four-dimensional diagrams are covered. Diagrams and nomographs are useful in the following cases: (1)…

The purposes of this paper are five-fold to discuss: (1) when item response theory (IRT) equating methods should provide better results than traditional methods; (2) which IRT model, the three-parameter logistic or the one-parameter logistic (Rasch), is the most reasonable to use; (3) what unique contributions IRT methods can offer the equating…

This resource book examines the value-added model approach when used in assessing early childhood Title I (ECT-I) programs. The evaluation design must be able to separate program effects from natural maturation. The basic idea behind the value-added model builds on the notion of natural maturation. The major strengths are that it does not require…

This paper examines the properties of the Item Efficiency Index proposed by Neill and Jackson (1976; EJ 137 077) for minimum redundancy item analysis. (Author/BW)

An extension of the discussion of loglinear models presents post hoc procedures for statistically evaluating treatment effects, contrasts, and confidence intervals, illustrating methods for main effect and interaction contrasts and paying special attention to odds ratios and their interval estimates. Procedures for treating variables as…

Mathematical observations are made about some continuous curves, called transitions, encountered in well-known experiences. The transition parabola, the transition spiral, and the sidestep maneuver are presented. (MNS)

This article presents a model for the motion of a long-cane executing the touch technique and presents formulas for the projected length of a cane adequate to protect an individual with blindness against wall-type and pole-type hazards. The paper concludes that the long-cane should reach from the floor to the user's armpit. (JDD)

Six statistical methods for identifying possible sources of bias in standardized test items are presented. The relationship between chi-squared methods and item-response theory methods are also discussed. (Author/BW)

The uses and restrictions of commonality analysis are described. Commonality analysis has been increasingly used as a method to examine the relative importance of independent variables, through the partitioning of variance among the variables of the regression equation into unique and common components. The effects of all other independent…