The Hartung-Knapp method for random-effects meta-analysis, that was also independently proposed by Sidik and Jonkman, is becoming advocated for general use. This method has previously been justified by taking all estimated variances as known and using a different pivotal quantity to the more conventional one when making inferences about the…

The debate about the role of attitude in the technology acceptance model (TAM) seems to have re-emerged in two prestigious journals in the field of educational technology. Among the publications on this debate, there are authors in favour of excluding the attitude of TAM, whereas others are in favour of including it. These opinions are derived…

Recently, studies have adopted fixed effects modeling to identify the returns to college. This method has the advantage over ordinary least squares estimates in that unobservable, individual-level characteristics that may bias the estimated returns are differenced out. But the method requires extensive longitudinal data and involves complex…

Evaluations of measurement invariance provide essential construct validity evidence--a prerequisite for seeking meaning in psychological and educational research and ensuring fair testing procedures in high-stakes settings. However, the quality of such evidence is partly dependent on the validity of the resulting statistical conclusions. Type I or…

With one treated and one untreated periods, difference in differences (DD) requires the untreated response changes to be the same across the treatment and control groups, if the treatment were withheld contrary to the fact. A natural way to check the condition is to backtrack one period and examine the response changes in two pretreatment periods.…

This study investigated undergraduate students' intention to use wiki technology. An extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been used by taking into account not only students' wiki perceived utility and usability, but also Big Five personality characteristics and two other variables, social norms, and facilitating conditions, as…

Structural equation modeling (SEM) has become widespread in educational and psychological research. Its flexibility in addressing complex theoretical models and the proper treatment of measurement error has made it the model of choice for many researchers in the social sciences. Nevertheless, the model imposes some daunting assumptions and…

An essential component in school accountability efforts is for assessments to be well-aligned with the standards or curriculum they are intended to measure. However, relatively little prior research has explored methods to determine statistical significance of alignment or misalignment. This study explores analyses of alignment as a special case…

Testlets, or groups of related items, are commonly included in educational assessments due to their many logistical and conceptual advantages. Despite their advantages, testlets introduce complications into the theory and practice of educational measurement. Responses to items within a testlet tend to be correlated even after controlling for…

Bayesian techniques have become increasingly present in the social sciences, fueled by advances in computer speed and the development of user-friendly software. In this paper, we forward the use of Bayesian Asymmetric Regression (BAR) to monitor intervention responsiveness when using Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) to assess oral reading…

It is often difficult and costly to obtain individual-level student achievement data, yet, researchers are frequently reluctant to use school-level achievement data that are widely available from state websites. We argue that public-use aggregate school-level achievement data are, in fact, sufficient to address a wide range of evaluation questions…

School violence research is often concerned with infrequently occurring events such as counts of the number of bullying incidents or fights a student may experience. Analyzing count data using ordinary least squares regression may produce improbable predicted values, and as a result of regression assumption violations, result in higher Type I…

The demand for distance education has been increasing at a rapid pace all around the world. This, in turn, places a special importance on the need for the development of more distance education systems. However, there is an alarming rise in the number of distance education students that drop out of the system without asking for any help. The…

In many countries the need for education systems and schools to improve and innovate has become central to the education policy of governments. School inspections are expected to play an important role in promoting such continuous improvement and to help schools and education systems more generally to consider the need for change and improvement.…

The authors propose a general modeling framework called the general monotone model (GeMM), which allows one to model psychological phenomena that manifest as nonlinear relations in behavior data without the need for making (overly) precise assumptions about functional form. Using both simulated and real data, the authors illustrate that GeMM…