The standard two-wave multiple-indicator model (2WMIM) commonly used to analyze test-retest data provides information at both the group and item level. Furthermore, when applied to binary and graded item responses, it is related to well-known item response theory (IRT) models. In this article the IRT-2WMIM relations are used to obtain additional…

Previous assessments of the reliability of test scores for testlet-composed tests have indicated that item-based estimation methods overestimate reliability. This study was designed to address issues related to the extent to which item-based estimation methods overestimate the reliability of test scores composed of testlets and to compare several…

Testlet effects can be taken into account by incorporating specific dimensions in addition to the general dimension into the item response theory model. Three such multidimensional models are described: the bi-factor model, the testlet model, and a second-order model. It is shown how the second-order model is formally equivalent to the testlet…

This report marks the completion of the 2008-09 reporting cycle and the fourth year of the Division III Financial Aid Reporting Program. The report examines findings for all reporting institutions from each of the four reporting cycles, and details the outcomes of the Division III Financial Aid Committee's 2008-09 review process. Four calculations…

Motivated by Gibbons et al.'s (Appl. Psychol. Meas. 31:4-19, "2007") full-information maximum marginal likelihood item bifactor analysis for polytomous data, and Rijmen, Vansteelandt, and De Boeck's (Psychometrika 73:167-182, "2008") work on constructing computationally efficient estimation algorithms for latent variable…

Throughout the United States, investments in high-quality early childhood education are seen by community leaders as a strategy for improving outcomes in areas such as K-12 education, workforce development, and economic development. Indeed, many research studies conclude that high quality early learning environments produce social, educational,…

The purpose of this article is to clarify conceptions, definitions, and applications of learning and problem-solving efficiency. Conceptions of efficiency vary within the field of educational psychology, and there is little consensus as to how to define, measure, and interpret the efficiency construct. We compare three diverse models that differ…

In the predictive learning and causal reasoning literature it has been suggested that the processing of events is under the control of a competitive mechanism. However, little is known about whether the competitive mechanism operates at the encoding or near the response stages. The present work suggests that measures based on the recall of…

The purposes of the study were to (1) identify formulas currently used for justifying budget requests or allocating funds for operating expenses of state-supported colleges and universities; (2) provide a comparative analysis of each formula with respect to the functional budget areas recognized, the base and formula factors used, methods of…