In observed-score equipercentile equating, the goal is to make scores on two scales or tests measuring the same construct comparable by matching the percentiles of the respective score distributions. If the tests consist of different items with multiple categories for each item, a suitable model for the responses is a polytomous item response…

When education works, it creates productive, innovative citizens eager to contribute to a well-functioning democracy. In contrast, educational failure has lifelong consequences, with some individuals experiencing decades of preventable hardship. Dawn Flanagan and Joel Schneider write in this response that, like Kranzler, Floyd, Benson, Zabowski,…

This study aims to investigate the effect of methods to deal with missing data on item difficulty estimations under different test length conditions and sampling sizes. In this line, a data set including 10, 20 and 40 items with 100 and 5000 sampling size was prepared. Deletion process was applied at the rates of 5%, 10% and 20% under conditions…

Research Findings: Empathy, or the ability to understand what others are thinking or feeling, can be observed in early developmental stages. The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Empathy Questionnaire (EmQue) and examine its longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI) at 2 time points. Parents of 103 children completed…

A fundamental challenge to understanding effects of foreign language anxiety on the foreign language learning lies in implementing reliable and valid measures. Considering importance of measurement bias and widespread usage of the foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) in education, the aim of the current study was to detect differential…

In many experimental evaluations in the social and medical sciences, individuals are randomly assigned to a treatment arm or a control arm of the experiment. After treatment assignment is determined, individuals within one or both experimental arms are frequently grouped together (e.g., within classrooms or schools, through shared case managers,…

International large-scale assessments of student achievement such as International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Program for International…

This study assesses the reliability of two observation rubrics, one in math and the other in science, and documents how the rubric data were used to inform a teacher education program. Classroom observations are typically considered essential for assessing teaching practice, yet many popular observation frameworks, while comprehensive in aim, do…

In this essay, we describe the construction and use of the Cut-Score Operating Function in aiding standard setting decisions. The Cut-Score Operating Function shows the relation between the cut-score chosen and the consequent error rate. It allows error rates to be defined by multiple loss functions and will show the behavior of each loss…

We examined how raters and tasks influence measurement error in writing evaluation and how many raters and tasks are needed to reach a desirable level of 0.90 and 0.80 reliabilities for children in Grades 3 and 4. A total of 211 children (102 boys) were administered three tasks in narrative and expository genres, respectively, and their written…

Educational analysts studying achievement and other educational outcomes frequently encounter an association between initial status and growth, which has important implications for the analysis of covariate effects, including group differences in growth. As explicated by Allison (1990), where only two time points of data are available, identifying…

Many current theories and models include creativity as a component of giftedness, conceptualizing the construct in numerous ways that complement giftedness. Variations in creativity have also been studied among different academic disciplines, suggesting that although there may be higher levels of creativity for some, major choice is a complex…

Designing instruments for children and youth that result in reliable and valid data requires consideration beyond calculating grade-level equivalence of the text. Very little methodological research has been conducted on the survey response processes of children and youth and there are no comprehensive guidelines informing instrument development…

We examined how raters and tasks influence measurement error in writing evaluation and how many raters and tasks are needed to reach a desirable level of 0.90 and 0.80 reliabilities for children in Grades 3 and 4. A total of 211 children (102 boys) were administered three tasks in narrative and expository genres, respectively, and their written…

Acquiescence response bias is the tendency to agree to questionnaires irrespective of item content or direction, and is problematic for both researchers and clinicians. Further research is warranted to clarify factors relating to the confounding influence of acquiescence. Building on previous research that investigated the interaction between…