Economic efficiency demands accurate assessment of individual ability for selection purposes. This study investigates Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) for estimating true ability and ranking individuals. Two Monte Carlo simulations and real data analyses were conducted. Results suggest a slight advantage for IRT, but…

The use of multistage adaptive testing (MST) has gradually increased in large-scale testing programs as MST achieves a balanced compromise between linear test design and item-level adaptive testing. MST works on the premise that each examinee gives their best effort when attempting the items, and their responses truly reflect what they know or can…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on high-stakes testing, including the national benchmark tests in South Africa. Current linear testing formats have been criticized for their limitations, leading to a shift towards Computerized Adaptive Testing [CAT]. Assessments with CAT are more precise and take less time. Evaluation of CAT…

Questionnaires are by far the most common tool for measuring noncognitive constructs in psychology and educational sciences. Response bias may pose an additional source of variation between respondents that threatens validity of conclusions drawn from questionnaire data. We present a mixture modeling approach that leverages response time data from…

The negative effect of poverty on children's cognitive development has been proven, but few studies have examined the potential role of perceived poverty discrimination on poor children's cognitive development. This study investigated the effect of perceived discrimination on executive function, the mediating effect of self-esteem and the…

When analyzing large-scale assessments (LSAs) that use complex sampling designs, it is important to account for probability sampling using weights. However, the use of these weights in multilevel models has been widely debated, particularly regarding their application at different levels of the model. Yet, no consensus has been reached on the best…