A method is presented for marginal maximum likelihood estimation of the nonlinear random coefficient model when the response function has some linear parameters. This is done by writing the marginal distribution of the repeated measures as a conditional distribution of the response given the nonlinear random effects. The resulting distribution…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, large-scale test score trend analyses are widespread. These analyses often gloss over interesting changes in test score distributions and involve unrealistic assumptions. Further complications arise from analyses of unanchored, censored assessment data, or proportions of students lying within performance levels…

The authors investigated the extent to which taking specific types of Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the number of courses taken predicts the likelihood of passing subject benchmarks and earning a score of 19 on the composite score on the ACT test, and examined the role gender plays in the projection. They found evidence that taking an AP…

Three statistical testing procedures well-known in the maximum likelihood approach are the Wald, likelihood ratio (LR), and score tests. Although well-known, the application of these three testing procedures in the logistic regression method to investigate differential item function (DIF) has not been rigorously made yet. Employing a variety of…

Purpose: In western countries, a model to explain student engagement in college or university has long been established. However, there is a lack of research to develop and validate a model which may help to better understand student engagement in the local university context. There is currently no established instrument to measure student…

The authors summarize evidence from a multiyear study with secondary students with reading difficulties on (a) the potential efficacy of primary-level (Tier 1), secondary-level (Tier 2), and tertiary-level (Tier 3) interventions in remediating reading difficulties with middle school students, (b) the likelihood of resolving reading disabilities…

A bivariate lognormal model for the distribution of the response times on a test by a pair of test takers is presented. As the model has parameters for the item effects on the response times, its correlation parameter automatically corrects for the spuriousness in the observed correlation between the response times of different test takers because…

This article presents a state-space modeling (SSM) technique for fitting process factor analysis models directly to raw data. The Kalman smoother via the expectation-maximization algorithm to obtain maximum likelihood parameter estimates is used. To examine the finite sample properties of the estimates in SSM when common factors are involved, a…

In sequential mastery testing (SMT), assessment via computer is used to classify examinees into one of two mutually exclusive categories. Unlike paper-and-pencil tests, SMT has the capability to use variable-length stopping rules. One approach to shortening variable-length tests is stochastic curtailment, which halts examination if the probability…

This research involves the development and validation of a survey that measures users' acceptance of e-learning. A total sample of 386 university students from a teacher training institute in an Asian country participated in this study. Comprising two studies, the first study (n=197) initiated a generic questionnaire, and examined factorial…

The robustness and power of 9 strategies for testing the differences in groups' regression slopes were assessed under nonnormality and residual variance heterogeneity. For the conditions considered, the most robust strategies were the trimmed and Winsorized slope estimates used with the James second-order test, the Theil-Sen slope estimates used…

This paper describes and evaluates the use of measurement decision theory (MDT) to classify examinees based on their item response patterns. The model has a simple framework that starts with the conditional probabilities of examinees in each category or mastery state responding correctly to each item. The presented evaluation investigates: (1) the…

In this article we report on the results of an innovative research partnership with the largest school district in one Canadian province where we are exploring how educational leadership practices and the factors that influence these practices interact to impact student learning. This article makes a clear connection between leadership and student…

The purpose of this study was to explore the learning strategies used by ethnically diverse learners and to investigate the relationships among the constructs of classroom goal structure, achievement goal orientation, motivation and self-regulated learning in an ethnically diverse population of fourth and fifth grade learners (n = 396). Goal…

Cognitive and skills diagnosis models are psychometric models that have immense potential to provide rich information relevant for instruction and learning. However, wider applications of these models have been hampered by their novelty and the lack of commercially available software that can be used to analyze data from this psychometric…