Educational reform priorities such as emphasis on quantitative modelling (QM) have positioned undergraduate biology instructors as designers of QM experiences to engage students in authentic science practices that support the development of data-driven and evidence-based reasoning. Yet, little is known about how biology instructors adapt to the…

This monograph provides an epistemological rational for the Accumulative Manifold Validation Analysis [also referred by the acronym "AMOVA"] statistical methodology designed to test psychometric instruments. This form of inquiry is a form of mathematical optimization in the discipline of linear stochastic modelling. AMOVA is an in-depth…

The aim of this paper is to present a shortened version of the SIS (support intensity scale) obtained by the application of mathematical models and instruments, adopting special algorithms based on the most recent developments in artificial adaptive systems. All the variables of SIS applied to 1,052 subjects with ID (intellectual disabilities)…

A measure of the usefulness of a pass/fail testing decision procedure is the ratio of the utility of the given procedure to the utility of a procedure based on knowledge of scores on a criterion measure. It is computed from scores for a representative sample of persons tested. Utility functions may be specified by the test user or set by…

The mathematical description of recidivism is shown to be improved by using a limited or asymptotic growth curve rather than a linear relationship over time. The proposed curve for failure rate may also be applied to other programs for behavioral change. (CTM)

Checking of parametric assumptions is an often ignored step in the inferential process. A misconception regarding symmetry (one aspect of "robustness") is prevalent: that in nonsymmetric distributions the mean and median are always non-coincidental. It is to this fallacious point that the discussion is directed. A generally accepted index of…

Single construct validity is examined, and appropriate statistical tests are described when criterion information is available for: (1) examinees selected at random; (2) examinees selected on the basis of the current test; and (3) examinees selected using other measures of the latent construct. Discriminant validity is also discussed. (SLD)

Five comparisons were made relative to the quality of estimates of ability parameters and item calibrations obtained from the one-parameter and three-parameter logistic models. The results indicate: (1) The three-parameter model fit the test data better in all cases than did the one-parameter model. For simulation data sets, multi-factor data were…

An attempt is made to indicate why the concept of "true score" naturally leads to the belief that test validity must increase with an increase in test and/or average item reliability, and why this is correct for the classical single-factor model first introduced by Spearman. The statistical model used by Loevinger is introduced to…

Performance testing often entails the usage of expensive, time-consuming measures in the quest for determining the level of performance on some desired behavior. It is concluded that a generalizability theory approach to dealing with departures from reality in testing can aid in the establishment of empirically-based choices of measurement…

During the past few years the problem of bias in testing has become an increasingly important issue. In most research, bias refers to the fair use of tests and has thus been defined in terms of an outside criterion measure of the performance being predicted by the test. Recently however, there has been growing interest in assessing bias when such…

The model for educational measurement developed by George Rasch, a Danish psychometrician, is reviewed and its application to occupational educational testing discussed. The Rasch model is an adaptation from the theory of latent trait analysis. According to it, answering an item correctly is a function of the difficulty of the item and the ability…

The implications of a mathematical model of test scores are explored where the data are limited to a random sample of items without replacement from an indefinitely large population or item domain in which items are scored either zero or one. The purpose is to obtain an unbiased estimate of a student's proportion of items correct in the item…

Previous research has studied the effects of different methods of item option weighting on the reliability and concurrent and predictive validity of achievement tests. Increases in reliability are generally found, but with mixed results for validity. Several methods of producing option weights, (i.e., Guttman internal and external weights and…