During the transition period between the use of exclusively old SAT® scores and the use of exclusively new SAT scores, college admission offices will be receiving both types of scores from students. Making an admission decision based on new SAT scores can be challenging at first because institutions have methods, procedures, and models based on…

This work asks one simple question: "how reliable is the method used by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) to estimate projected rates of VET program completion?" In other words, how well do early projections align with actual completion rates some years later? Completion rates are simple to calculate with a…

The goal of the current study was to introduce a new stopping rule for computerized adaptive testing (CAT). The predicted standard error reduction (PSER) stopping rule uses the predictive posterior variance to determine the reduction in standard error that would result from the administration of additional items. The performance of the PSER was…

Data from the ALEKS-based placement program at the University of Illinois is presented visually in several ways. The placement exam (an ALEKS assessment) contains precise item-specific information and the data show many interesting properties of the student populations of the placement courses, which include Precalculus, Calculus, and Business…

Paul Newton (2010), with his characteristic concern about theory, has set out two different ways of thinking about the basis upon which equivalences of one sort or another are established between test score scales. His reason for doing this is a desire to establish "the defensibility of linkages lower on the continuum than concordance."…

This article presents the author's rejoinder to thinking about linking from issue 8(1). Particularly within the more embracing linking frameworks, e.g., Holland & Dorans (2006) and Holland (2007), there appears to be a major disjunction between (1) classification discourse: the supposed basis for classification, that is, the underlying theory…

"Linking" is a term given to a general class of procedures by which one represents scores X on one test or measure in terms of scores Y on another test or measure. A recent taxonomy by Holland and Dorans (2006; Holland, 2007) organizes the various types of links into three broad categories: prediction, scale aligning, and equating. In…

Newton's article (2010) makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it is transatlantic, bringing together literatures that have been dealing with similar problems, using sometimes different methods and certainly with distinctive educational, cultural perspectives. He points out that neither of these literatures has all of the…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…

When survey data are statistically analyzed, many times some of the data is missing. If the missing values are not correctly handled, results of the analysis may be dubious and publication may jeopardize the credibility of the organization preparing the report. This study examined four of the more commonly used methods of handling missing data.…

This chapter outlines the theory of cost-benefit analysis and discusses its application to determining the cost-benefit of instructional development projects. Three types of applications are discussed: (1) descriptive applications of single projects; (2) predictive studies of proposed projects; and (3) comparative analysis of alternative projects…

A strategy is proposed for conceptualizing moderating relationships based on their type (strictly correlational and classically correlational) and form, whether continuous, noncontinuous, logistic, or quantum. Results of computer simulations comparing three statistical approaches for assessing moderator variables are presented, and advantages of…

The predictive accuracy of the newly developed actuarial risk measures Risk Matrix 2000 Sexual/Violence (RMS, RMV) were cross validated and compared with two risk assessment measures (SVR-20 and Static-99) in a sample of sexual (n = 85) and nonsex violent (n = 46) offenders. The sexual offense reconviction rate for the sex offender group was 18%…

Tests the inferential approach to the study of competence evaluation and a series of complicating factors relevant to it by having participants with known implicit theories judge an observed communicator on a set of competence-relevant characteristics and on overall competence. Finds inferential models predicted these judgments well. (MS)