A one-parameter latent trait model was the basis of the test development procedures in the Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS). Several issues are involved in applying the Rasch model to an assessment program in a large school district. Separate sets of skills continua are arranged by…

The logic of using a gain score approach versus longitudinal causal models is studied in this secondary analysis of a complex data base. The gain score model used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the School District of Philadelphia in their "What Works in Reading?" study is successively refined using the LISREL structural equation…

The Rasch model for test analysis is described and compared with two-parameter and three-parameter latent-trait models. Conditional maximum likelihood equations for estimating item parameters are derived, and estimates of person parameters are described together with their confidence intervals. Goodness of fit tests are discussed, including a…

Action research often necessitates the use of intact groups for the comparison of educational treatments or programs. This paper considers several analytical methods that might be used for such situations when pretest scores indicate that these intact groups differ significantly initially. The methods considered include gain score analysis of…

Rasch calibration permitted the development of short achievement tests that were economical in testing time, and could be developed in a series of difficulty levels to suit student individual differences. Furthermore, these tests were of adequate reliability for practical educational measurement when individual students were assigned to tests of…

Describes two simple methods of error analysis: (1) combining errors in the measured quantities; and (2) calculating the error or uncertainty in the slope of a straight-line graph. Discusses significance of the error in the comparison of experimental results with some known value. (MDH)

Employing standardized achievement tests to ascertain educational quality is like measuring temperature with a tablespoon. Such tests are prone to testing-teaching mismatches, omitted items, and confounded causation problems. Actually, three factors influence students' scores: what's taught in school, native intellectual ability, and out-of-school…

Process/product instruments of the 1970s attempt to evaluate teaching based on classroom observations. Performance-based teacher assessment is an ineffective, inappropriate method that does not truly assess teaching. Alternative methods (portfolios, student evaluations, peer evaluation, dossiers, and 360-degree feedback) support professional…

Studied the amount of measurement error in a state's performance-based writing task as it relates to high-stakes decision reproducibility. Using 175 eighth-grade writing samples, the study finds moderate correlations between the two raters' scores, with significant differences for the rates for the handwritten, but not the typed, essays.(SLD)

In this paper, we respond to the criticisms and concerns raised by D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, & S.S. Sparrow (this issue) in their review of the PCB literature, with particular attention to our own research in Michigan. We agree that multiple comparisons and functional significance are issues that would benefit from more discussion.…

This study evaluates the effects of employing the linear, normalizing, and arcsine transformation methods for constructing scale scores on the Basic Competence Test (BCTEST). Tests in three subject areas (Chinese, English, and Mathematics) were studied using the data of test administrations from 2001 to 2003. The resulting scale scores for each…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections of occupational employment growth have consistently underpredicted the growth of skilled occupations. BLS currently predicts that professional, technical, and managerial jobs will account for 40.9 percent of employment growth between 1990 and 2005. Forecasting regressions predict these occupations…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

Two studies were carried out to evaluate the quality of multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model parameter estimates obtained from the computer program NOHARM. The purpose of the first study was to compute empirical estimates of the standard errors of the parameters. In addition, the parameter estimates were evaluated for bias and the…

Possible causes of a 16-point mean score increase for the computer adaptive form of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) in reading over the paper-and-pencil test (PPT) in reading are examined. The adaptive form of the CLAST was used in a state-wide field test in which reading, writing, and computation scores for approximately 1,000…