We review the GIDNA and CDM packages in R for fitting cognitive diagnosis/diagnostic classification models. We first provide a summary of their core capabilities and then use both simulated and real data to compare their functionalities in practice. We found that the most relevant routines in the two packages appear to be more similar than…

The Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills-II (CIBS-II)-Readiness form is a diagnostic battery intended for children aged 5 and 6 years. The CIBS-II-Readiness is a new version of the CIBS-Revised-Readiness and includes updated normative information on a larger representative sample in comparison to the CIBS-Revised-Readiness. Empirical…

"Diagnostic classification models" (DCM) are frequently promoted by psychometricians as important modelling alternatives for analyzing response data in situations where multivariate classifications of respondents are made on the basis of multiple postulated latent skills. In this review paper, a definitional boundary of the space of DCM…

Pragmatic language skills are important for developing relationships with others, and for communicating with a range of interlocutors in a variety of contexts, including preschool and elementary school classrooms. Pragmatic language difficulties frequently are a primary area of disability for children diagnosed with autism, Asperger's syndrome,…

How to measure growth in knowledge and ability over time in curriculum research is explored. Two broad classes of probabilistic models are considered, the Rasch model and latent class models with their associated generalizations. Potential of both classes for measuring categorical change is discussed. (SLD)

A new procedure is proposed for generating instructionally relevant diagnostic feedback. The approach involves constructing a strong model of student proficiency and then testing whether individual students' observed item-response vectors are consistent with that model. The approach is applied to the Scholastic Assessment Test's verbal reasoning…

Recent developments in cognitive psychology suggest models for knowledge and learning that often fall outside the realm of standard test theory. This paper concerns probability-based inference in terms of such models. The essential idea is to define a space of "student models"--simplified characterizations of students' knowledge, skill,…

Two views of clinical problem solving (CPS) are compared. When research on teachers' cognitions was initiated in 1974, the concept of CPS was invoked primarily in terms of diagnosing and treating dysfunction. Presently, educators have reached a different, hierarchical view. This shift brings teaching closer to art and farther from science. (SLD)

In an investigation of the impact of the psychological/educational diagnostic process on the parents of young children at risk for developmental delay, 18 families completed questionnaires and were interviewed concerning their child's evaluation. Transcribed interviews conducted 1-2 weeks after the evaluation and 4 months after the evaluations…

A three-stage model to diagnose and treat learning difficulties is presented. The three stages include: status assessment; cause estimation; and treatment recommendations. This paper concentrates on the first part of the second stage--that of generating likely causes for the learning difficulties in a given case. A list of questions is offered to…

A model-based approach to rater reliability for essays read by multiple readers is presented. Variation of rater severity (between-rater variation) and rater inconsistency (within-rater variation) is considered in the presence of between-examinee variation. An additive variance component model is posited and the method of moments for its…

This paper introduces a modification to the Rule Space diagnostic classification procedure to allow for processing of response vectors that contain missing data. Rule Space is an approach to diagnostic classification that involves characterizing examinees' performances in terms of an underlying cognitive model of generalized problem-solving…

The report describes the University of Florida Multidisciplinary Diagnostic and Training Program (MDTP), jointly administered through the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Special Education. It functions as a diagnostic, training, and consultative resource to local school districts in north central Florida and provides short-term…

Overreliance on test-based assessment of learning disabilities can produce diagnostic results of questionable validity and prove stigmatizing for the child. An instructional-based model focuses on evaluation of the child's response to teaching. Observation and analysis of the student's reaction yeilds results that are more readily translatable…

Describes an evaluation model for the independent psychodiagnostic clinic and outlines an evaluation tool used at the Psychoeducational Teaching Laboratory in Syracuse, New York. Evaluation components include formative and summative product and process evaluations. Suggests program evaluation be part of contract negotiations and individually…