The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which item response theory (IRT) proficiency estimation methods are robust to the presence of aberrant responses under the "GRE"® General Test multistage adaptive testing (MST) design. To that end, a wide range of atypical response behaviors affecting as much as 10% of the test items…

Because of concerns about test security, different test forms are typically used across different testing occasions. As a result, equating is necessary in order to get scores from the different test forms that can be used interchangeably. In order to assure the quality of equating, multiple equating methods are often examined. Various equity…

Large-scale educational surveys are low-stakes assessments of educational outcomes conducted using nationally representative samples. In these surveys, students do not receive individual scores, and the outcome of the assessment is inconsequential for respondents. The low-stakes nature of these surveys, as well as variations in average performance…

Examines the nature and extent of series victimization in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This technical report assesses the general patterns of victims' responses to being asked, "How many times did this type of incident occur?" and provides data on how reports of high-frequency repeat victimizations have changed over…

Effective teaching and teachers are key to producing high-performing students worldwide. So how can countries prepare teachers to face the diverse challenges in today's schools? The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) helps answer this question. TALIS asks teachers and schools about their working conditions and the learning…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on behalf of the United States Department of Education in order to collect extensive data on American public and private elementary and secondary schools. SASS provides data on the characteristics and qualifications of teachers and…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 1--Graduation--from the FFY 2010 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and amended State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted by states to the Office of Special Education…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 1--Graduation--from the FFY 2009 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and amended State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted by states to the Office of Special Education…

BRT Math Screening Measures focus on students' mathematics performance in grade-level standards for students in grades 1-8. A total of 24 test forms are available with three test forms per grade corresponding to fall, winter, and spring testing periods. Each form contains computation problems and application problems. BRT Math Screening Measures…

Lord's bias function and the weighted likelihood estimation method are effective in reducing the bias of the maximum likelihood estimate of an examinee's ability under the assumption that the true item parameters are known. This paper presents simulation studies to determine the effectiveness of these two methods in reducing the bias when the item…

The purpose of this study was to document the instrument development of maze measures for grades 3-8. Each maze passage contained twelve omitted words that students filled in by choosing the best-fit word from among the provided options. In this technical report, we describe the process of creating, reviewing, and pilot testing the maze measures.…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing and summarizing the data for Indicator 2--Dropout--from the FY2007 (2007-08 school year) Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and the revised State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted to Office of Special Education…

The purpose of the NMSBA technical report is to provide users and other interested parties with a general overview of and technical characteristics of the 2007 NMSBA. The 2007 technical report contains the following information: (1) Test development; (2) Scoring procedures; (3) Summary of student performance; (4) Statistical analyses of item and…

This report is the methodology report for the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 follow-up in 1986. The fifth follow-up survey of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72) took place during spring and summer of 1986. A mail questionnaire was sent to a subsample of 14,489 members of the…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of summarizing and analyzing the data for Indicator 2--Dropout--from the 2005-06 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and the revised State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in February…