Disengaged item responses pose a threat to the validity of the results provided by large-scale assessments. Several procedures for identifying disengaged responses on the basis of observed response times have been suggested, and item response theory (IRT) models for response engagement have been proposed. We outline that response time-based…

The selection of an appropriate booklet design is an important element of large-scale assessments of student achievement. Two design properties that are typically optimized are the "balance" with respect to the positions the items are presented and with respect to the mutual occurrence of pairs of items in the same booklet. The purpose…

The purpose of the present studies was to test the hypothesis that the psychometric characteristics of ability scales may be significantly distorted if one accounts for emotional factors during test taking. Specifically, the present studies evaluate the effects of anxiety and motivation on the item difficulties of the Rasch model. In Study 1, the…

Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on differential item functioning in testing, studies have focused on detecting differential item functioning rather than on explaining how or why it may occur. Some recent work has explored sources of differential functioning using explanatory and multilevel item response models. This…

This pedagogical article is intended to explain the similarities and differences between the parameterizations of two multilevel measurement model (MMM) frameworks. The conventional two-level MMM that includes item indicators and models item scores (Level 1) clustered within examinees (Level 2) and the two-level cross-classified MMM (in which item…