Purpose: This study aimed to use enrollment information including demographic, family background and financial status, which can be gathered before the first semester starts, to construct early prediction models (EPMs) and extract crucial factors associated with first-year student dropout probability. Design/methodology/approach: The real-world…

The method of Instrumental Variables is suggested as an alternative to traditional methods for estimating the reliability of test scores which avoids certain drawbacks of these methods. The use of the Instrumental Variables method is illustrated with a data set involving reading and math tests. (Author/JKS)