Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is a useful tool when analyzing data collected from groups. There are many decisions to be made when constructing and estimating a model in HLM including which estimation technique to use. Three of the estimation techniques available when analyzing data with HLM are maximum likelihood, restricted maximum…

This study compared five common multilevel software packages via Monte Carlo simulation: HLM 7, M"plus" 7.4, R (lme4 V1.1-12), Stata 14.1, and SAS 9.4 to determine how the programs differ in estimation accuracy and speed, as well as convergence, when modeling multiple randomly varying slopes of different magnitudes. Simulated data…

We compared students' performance on a paper-based test (PBT) and three computer-based tests (CBTs). The three computer-based tests used different test navigation and answer selection features, allowing us to examine how these features affect student performance. The study sample consisted of 9,698 fourth through twelfth grade students from across…

The purpose of this evaluation was to examine the impact of i-Ready Personalized Instruction that met Curriculum Associates' recommended usage levels on mathematics achievement, as measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) mathematics assessment. This study compared mathematics achievement growth of students who used…

The purpose of this evaluation was to examine the impact of i-Ready Personalized Instruction that met Curriculum Associates' recommended usage levels on ELA achievement, as measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) ELA assessment. This study compared the ELA achievement growth in the 2020-21 school year of students who…

This study evaluated rater accuracy with rater-monitoring data from high stakes examinations in England. Rater accuracy was estimated with cross-classified multilevel modelling. The data included face-to-face training and monitoring of 567 raters in 110 teams, across 22 examinations, giving a total of 5500 data points. Two rater-monitoring systems…

The quality of teachers is now a central focus of policy and research. In spite of this focus, two key gaps exist, and this dissertation helps to fill them: First, mediation models involving the study of the effects of teaching are rare; instead, most current investigations of teachers focus primarily on the effects of teachers, with less…

The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic…

In 2012, the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board of Korea decided to publicly disclose all test items and answers to satisfy the test takers' right to know and enhance the transparency of tests administered by the government. This study investigated the effects of item disclosure on the medical licensing examination (MLE),…

Bullying is the most common form of school violence and is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including traumatic responses. This study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel moderating effects of school climate and school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) on the association between bullying…

There is no national study examining the rate of enrollment of students with disabilities in charter schools. We examined whether students with disabilities were significantly less likely to enroll in charter schools as compared to non-charter public schools accounting for state level variation using data for the entire national population. We…

I analyze the effects of household sociodemography, interviewer performance in the current survey, and fieldwork characteristics on cooperation in a central telephone survey, where households with no publicly listed landline number receive face-to-face visits. Using the 2013 refreshment sample of the Swiss Household Panel, I employ…

We present three strategies to replace the null hypothesis statistical significance testing approach in psychological research: (1) visual representation of cognitive processes and predictions, (2) visual representation of data distributions and choice of the appropriate distribution for analysis, and (3) model comparison. The three strategies…

The current study used Bayesian hierarchical methods to challenge and extend previous work on subtask learning consistency. A general model of individual-level subtask learning was proposed focusing on power and exponential functions with constraints to test for inconsistency. To study subtask learning, we developed a novel computer-based booking…

The present study examined growth in writing quality associated with feedback provided by an automated essay evaluation system called PEG Writing. Equal numbers of students with disabilities (SWD) and typically-developing students (TD) matched on prior writing achievement were sampled (n = 1196 total). Data from a subsample of students (n = 655)…