Thirty-four papers on educational statistics which were presented at the 1971 AERA Conference are summarized. Six major interest areas are covered: (a) general information; (b) non-parametric methods; (c) errors of measurement and correlation techniques; (d) regression theory; (e) univariate and multivariate analysis; (f) factor analysis. (MS)

In the spring of 1991 the first full-scale National Household Education Survey (NHES:91) was conducted for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NHES:91 was a national random digit dial telephone survey of about 14,000 parents of 3- to 8-year-old children concerning the educational experiences of young children. A reinterview…

This paper examines whether failure to control for family background, aptitude, high school quality, high school curriculum, and community characteristics leads to bias in estimates of the economic return resulting from postsecondary education. High school specific fixed effects were used to control for all observed and unobserved characteristics…

This study evaluated Krell's 1981-82 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) preparatory series software purported to raise students' scores substantially after only a short term of computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Forty-eight college-bound juniors from Escambia County (Florida) were assigned to experimental and control groups. A two-phased pre- and…

Teacher-made mastery tests were administered in a classroom-sized sample to study their decision consistency. Decision-consistency of criterion-referenced tests is usually defined in terms of the proportion of examinees who are classified in the same way after two test administrations. Single-administration estimates of decision consistency were…

The validity, reliability, and item characteristics of the Maine Real Estate Licensure Examination were investigated. Its validity was based on its construction; a task analysis was performed on real estate broker and salesperson jobs, items were written by trained personnel; and the test was reviewed by a panel of experts. Differences in scores…

Forming a sequence covering the various aspects of the simplex model, four articles are presented here under the following titles: "A Simplex Model for Analyzing Academic Growth", "Analyzing Ratings With Correlated Intrajudge Measurement Errors", "The Correlation of States With Gain", and "The Reliability of…

Bernhardt (2003) claims that half of the variance in second language (L2) reading is accounted for by first language literacy (20%) and second language knowledge (30%), and that one of the central goals of current L2 reading research should be to investigate the 50% of variance that remains unexplained. Part of this variance takes consists of…

A comprehensive assessment of the literacy proficiencies of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Employment Service/Unemployment Insurance (ES/UI) participants was conducted by the Department of Labor. The survey responses of a sample of 2,501 JTPA applicants and 3,277 ES/UI participants were scored, weighted, analyzed, and used to develop a…

One of the consistent findings of educational research studies is the effect of the students' family socio-economic background on their learning achievement. Consequently, international comparative studies emphasis the role of socio-economic background for determining learning outcomes. In particular, PISA results have been used to describe how…

The literature on issues of the reliability and validity of objective and performance assessments in vocational education and training was reviewed and synthesized to develop guidelines for procedures to enhance reliability and validity. The review established the following facts: (1) validity is determined largely through inferences made by both…

This study explores the utility of analytic scoring for the TOEFL® Academic Speaking Test (TAST) in providing useful and reliable diagnostic information in three aspects of candidates' performance: delivery, language use, and topic development. G studies were used to investigate the dependability of the analytic scores, the distinctness of the…

Some of the issues faced by institutions as they attempt to design a system of constructs that reflects the diversity of their schools are addressed. The choice of statistic, percentage passing versus mean, used in reporting test results can impact the allocation of services to subpopulations in the school. Percent passing statistics tend to focus…

As part of its mission, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is committed to the development of the community of researchers who work in the area of assessment both nationally and internationally. The association also has a commitment to provide policymakers with the types of data and analyses that will…

The purpose of the NMSBA technical report is to provide users and other interested parties with a general overview of and technical characteristics of the 2006 NMSBA. The 2006 technical report contains the following information: (1) Test development; (2) Scoring procedures; (3) Calibration, scaling, and equating procedures; (4) Standard setting;…