The literature showing that subscores fail to add value is vast; yet despite their typical redundancy and the frequent presence of substantial statistical errors, many stakeholders remain convinced of their necessity. This article describes a method for identifying and reporting unexpectedly high or low subscores by comparing each examinee's…

Employing nested sequences of models is a common practice when exploring the extent to which one set of variables mediates the impact of another set. Such an analysis in the context of logistic regression models confronts two challenges: (1) direct comparisons of coefficients across models are generally biased due to the changes in scale that…

The present study compares the fit of two- and three-parameter logistic (2PL and 3PL) models of item response theory in the performance of preschool children on the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices. The test of Raven is widely used for evaluating nonverbal intelligence of factor g. Studies comparing models with real data are scarce on the…

Faculty members and their corresponding academic fields at the University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón are classified with regard to grading practices over time. Based on the effects on the intercept of the equations that predict the GPA and the proportion of student withdrawals observed in each of the 39,337 courses offered during 41 consecutive…

One of the highest ambitions in educational technology is the move towards personalized learning. To this end, computerized adaptive learning (CAL) systems are developed. A popular method to track the development of student ability and item difficulty, in CAL systems, is the Elo Rating System (ERS). The ERS allows for dynamic model parameters by…

The omega (?) statistic is reputed to be one of the best indices for detecting answer copying on multiple choice tests, but its performance relies on the accurate estimation of copier ability, which is challenging because responses from the copiers may have been contaminated. We propose an algorithm that aims to identify and delete the suspected…

We analyzed a pool of items from an admissions test for differential item functioning (DIF) for groups based on age, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or English language status using Mantel-Haenszel and item response theory. DIF items were systematically examined to identify its possible sources by item type, content, and wording. DIF was…

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal…

Preschoolers' experiences with shapes are important because geometry is foundational to aspects of mathematics and it is now part of the Common Core for school-readiness. Exposure to shapes also provides experiences that are key to developing spatial thinking more broadly. Yet achieving a strong conceptual understanding of geometric categories can…

Research Findings: This study used data from a national sample to examine differences in school outcomes at the end of kindergarten between Head Start children who attended full-day and half-day programs. Propensity scores were used to match children who experienced different intensities of the program on a series of demographic characteristics in…

Determining the effectiveness of many special education interventions is most difficult because of the practical and ethical limitations associated with assigning participants to a control or non-treated group. Using Longitudinal Study of Australian Children data, this article utilised eight different propensity score analysis methods to determine…

Intrinsic persistent spiking mechanisms in medial entorhinal cortex (mEC) neurons may play a role in active maintenance of working memory. However, electrophysiological studies of rat mEC units have primarily focused on spatial modulation. We sought evidence of differential spike rates in the mEC in rats trained on a T-maze, cued spatial delayed…

Although activity in premotor and motor cortices is commonly observed in neuroimaging studies of spoken language processing, the degree to which this activity is an obligatory part of everyday speech comprehension remains unclear. We hypothesised that rather than being a unitary phenomenon, the neural response to speech perception in motor regions…

A six-year-old child was independently assessed by three licensed educational (school) psychologists and one interdisciplinary team in the UK. All but one of these practitioners believed their assessment to be the first. The aim was to compare the practice of assessors and their conclusions especially in diagnostic categorisation. The methods of…

The one-parameter logistic model with ability-based guessing (1PL-AG) has been recently developed to account for effect of ability on guessing behavior in multiple-choice items. In this study, the authors developed algorithms for computerized classification testing under the 1PL-AG and conducted a series of simulations to evaluate their…