The equivalence between non-parametric marginal logistic models (NMLMs) and a class of discrete marginal logistic models is examined. Parametric models offer some of the advantages of the NMLMs approach, but there are more restrictions on the manifest probabilities. (SLD)

Three methods for grouping items in an opinion survey were compared for their utility in subscale construction: rational organization according to content, factor analysis, and multidimensional scaling. Only subscales based on factor analysis could be refined to meet the criteria of reliability, additivity, and interpretability simultaneously. (SV)

A recent multidimensional scaling analysis of the Test of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (TOEFL) item response data identified clusters of items in the test sections that, being more homogeneous than their parent sections, might be better for diagnostic use. The analysis was repeated using different scoring techniques. Results diverged only for…

Presents a procedure, based on a Bayesian updating of the item information, for locating on the latent trait scale the scores or responses of items that follow the three-parameter logistic and monotone partial credit models. Applications are provided in terms of selecting items or score categories for criterion-referenced interpretation of mapping…

A sample of 2,913 questions from 17 nursing test banks was evaluated for adherence to multiple-choice guidelines, cognitive level in Bloom's Taxonomy, and distribution of correct answers. Analysis revealed 2,233 guideline violations; 47.3% of items were written at the knowledge level, 6.5% at the analysis level; and correct answers were evenly…

This article proposes and describes factor-analytic procedures for assessing and controlling socially desirable responding in binary personality items. The basic procedures are applications of the restricted (confirmatory) item factor analysis model for ordered-categorical variables. Orthogonal and oblique solutions based on marker variables are…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of mathematics progress monitoring measures intended for use with students in grade 1. These measures, available as part of easyCBM [TM], an online progress monitoring assessment system, were developed in 2008 and administered to approximately 2800 students from schools…

This is a book about quality and how to control quality through deliberate actions on the part of the professionals developing and implementing the instances of instruction available at an organization. Quality control theory favors no particular learning philosophy and is only directed towards aspects of how, what, where and when measurements are…

The new IEA "International Civic and Citizenship Education Study" (ICCS) will investigate the extent to which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens across a range of countries. ICCS will survey 13-to-14-year old students in over 30 countries in the year 2009. The ICCS outcome data will be obtained from representative…

The present study investigated whether two summated rating scales used in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2003), Mathematics Self-Concept (MSC), and Students' Valuing of Mathematics (VoM) seemed appropriate, meaningful, and useful in a Swedish context. The 4,256 Swedish eighth-grade students involved in TIMSS 2003…

The study examined the effects of item format, self-concept and anxiety on response changing behaviour. Four hundred undergraduate students who offered a counseling psychology course in a Nigerian university participated in the study. Students' answers in multiple--choice and true--false formats of an achievement test were observed for response…

The School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI) is a diagnostic tool that helps educators identify and measure strategies that are actively used by students for learning. It is a self-report inventory for use with students 8 through 12 years of age (SMALSI-Child Form) and also with older students aged 13 to 18 years (SMALSI-Teen…

The "Ohio Youth Problems, Functioning, and Satisfaction Scales" (Ohio Scales) are a recently developed set of measures designed to be a brief, practical assessment of changes in behavior over time in children and adolescents. The authors explored the convergent validity of the Ohio Scales by examining the relationship between the scales and…

The article reports results from a Human Early Learning Partnership initiative that aims to address limitations within the literature concerning neighborhood effects on child development. Problems include the tendency for studies to (a) rely on small samples of children, (b) focus on high-risk populations, (c) define neighborhood by Census…

The Violence Risk Scale-Sexual Offender version (VRS-SO) is a rating scale designed to assess risk and predict sexual recidivism, to measure and link treatment changes to sexual recidivism, and to inform the delivery of sexual offender treatment. The VRS-SO comprises 7 static and 17 dynamic items empirically or conceptually linked to sexual…