Longitudinal data analysis in education is the study growth over time. A longitudinal study is one in which repeated observations of the same variables are recorded for the same individuals over a period of time. This type of research is known by many names (e.g., time series analysis or repeated measures design), each of which can imply subtle…

This manuscript provides an overview of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), as part of a series of papers covering topics relevant to consumers of educational research. HLM is tremendously flexible, allowing researchers to specify relations across multiple "levels" of the educational system (e.g., students, classrooms, schools, etc.).…