JMP® Pro has introduced a new structural equation modeling (SEM) platform to its suite of multivariate methods of analysis. Utilizing their graphical user interface, JMP Pro has created a SEM platform that is easily navigable for both experienced and novice SEM users. As a new platform, JMP Pro does not have the capacity to implement certain…

Latent class analysis (LCA) refers to techniques for identifying groups in data based on a parametric model. Examples include mixture models, LCA with ordinal indicators, and latent class growth analysis. Despite its popularity, there is limited guidance with respect to decisions that must be made when conducting and reporting LCA. Moreover, there…

Simulation studies are the basic tools of quantitative methodologists used to obtain empirical solutions to statistical problems that may be impossible to derive through direct mathematical computations. The successful execution of many simulation studies relies on the accurate generation of correlated multivariate data that adhere to a particular…

We describe a data mining pipeline to convert data from educational systems into knowledge component (KC) models. In contrast to other approaches, our approach employs and compares multiple model search methodologies (e.g., sparse factor analysis, covariance clustering) within a single pipeline. In this preliminary work, we describe our approach's…

The Elo rating system has been recognised as an effective method for modelling students and items within adaptive educational systems. The existing Elo-based models have the limiting assumption that items are only tagged with a single concept and are mainly studied in the context of adaptive testing systems. In this paper, we introduce a…

This book presents different data collection and representation techniques: elementary descriptive statistics, confirmatory statistics, multivariate approaches and statistical modeling. It exposes the possibility of giving more robustness to the classical methodologies of education sciences by adding a quantitative approach. The fundamentals of…

One of the most common questions asked within school psychology research concerns the relationship between an intervention (independent variable) and an outcome (dependent variable). For example, say a researcher is interested in the effect of a cognitive-behavioral intervention (independent variable) on student depression (dependent variable).…

It is necessary to test for equivalence of measurements across groups to guarantee that comparisons of regression coefficients or mean scores of a latent factor are meaningful. Unfortunately, when tested, many scales display nonequivalence. Several researchers have suggested that nonequivalence may be used as a useful source of information as to…

Field experiments in education frequently assign entire groups such as schools to treatment or control conditions. These experiments incorporate sometimes a longitudinal component where for example students are followed over time to assess differences in the average rate of linear change, or rate of acceleration. In this study, we provide methods…

Evaluation theories can be tested in various ways. One approach, the experimental analogue study, is described and illustrated in this article. The approach is presented as a method worthy to use in the pursuit of what Alkin and others have called descriptive evaluation theory. Drawing on analogue studies conducted by the first author, we…

We analyzed stimulus class formation in a human study and in a connectionist model (CM) with a yes/no procedure, using compound stimuli. In the human study, the participants were six female undergraduate students; the CM was a feed-forward back-propagation network. Two 3-member stimulus classes were trained with a similar procedure in both the…

In the focus article of this issue, von Davier, Naemi, and Roberts essentially coupled: (1) a short methodological review of structural similarities of latent variable models with discrete and continuous latent variables; and (2) 2 short empirical case studies that show how these models can be applied to real, rather than simulated, large-scale…

The focus of this article is two-fold. First, it describes a model that can be used to guide the evaluation of teacher professional development. The model combines important components of existing models and incorporates the use of students' perceptions for examining teacher change. Second, the article reports the evaluation of a teacher…

This article provides a large-scale investigation into several of the properties of mixture-model clustering techniques (also referred to as latent class cluster analysis, latent profile analysis, model-based clustering, probabilistic clustering, Bayesian classification, unsupervised learning, and finite mixture models; see Vermunt & Magdison,…

Partially clustered designs, where clustering occurs in some conditions and not others, are common in psychology, particularly in prevention and intervention trials. This article reports results from a simulation comparing 5 approaches to analyzing partially clustered data, including Type I errors, parameter bias, efficiency, and power. Results…