Mixed-format assessments are increasingly being used in large scale standardized assessments to measure a continuum of skills ranging from basic recall to higher order thinking skills. These assessments are usually comprised of a combination of (a) multiple-choice items which can be efficiently scored, have stable psychometric properties, and…

This article introduces a bootstrap generalization to the Modified Parallel Analysis (MPA) method of test dimensionality assessment using factor analysis. This methodology, based on the use of Marginal Maximum Likelihood nonlinear factor analysis, provides for the calculation of a test statistic based on a parametric bootstrap using the MPA…

Policymakers have been puzzled to observe that food stamp households appear more likely to be food insecure than observationally similar eligible nonparticipating households. We reexamine this issue allowing for nonclassical reporting errors in food stamp participation and food insecurity. Extending the literature on partially identified…

Global economic transformations have never been as dramatic as in the twentieth century. Most countries have experienced radical changes in the standards of income per capita, technology, fertility, mortality, income inequality and the extent of democracy in the course of the past century. It is the goal of many disciplines--economics, history,…

Context effects are defined as being influences on test performance associated with the content of successively presented test items or sections. Four types of context effects are identified: (1) direct context effects (practice effects) which occur when performance on items is affected by the examinee having been exposed to similar types of…

This report provides an overview of a selection of measurement error studies conducted on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys. Its intent is not to offer new analyses of program data, but to summarize information from internal memoranda, working papers, and adjudicated reports about errors of measurement that occur during five…

The various costs of Type I and Type II errors of inference from data are discussed. Six methods for minimizing each error type are presented, which may be employed even after data collection for Type I and which minimizes Type II errors by a study design and analytical means combination. (Author/CM)

This profile presents and summarizes available information about the quality of data from the five surveys that comprise the SASS, along with background material on the survey design and procedures for the following: (1) School Survey; (2) School Administrator Survey; (3) Teacher Demand and Shortage Survey; (4) Teacher Survey; and (5) Teacher…

A 1994 report, "Quality Profile for SASS, Aspects of the Quality of Data in the Schools and Staffing Surveys (SASS)," presented and summarized the available information about the quality of the data from the five surveys that made up the SASS in its first two rounds of data collection (1987-1988 and 1990-1991). This report updates the…

The inherent methodological problem in conducting research at multiple sites is how to best derive an overall estimate of program impact across multiple sites, best being the estimate that minimizes the mean square error, that is, the square of the difference between the observed and true values. An empirical example illustrates the use of the…

The quality of educational data in Nepal was evaluated by investigating three questions: (1) the extent of reporting error in national education data; (2) accuracy of error estimation; and (3) levels at which error is introduced. Evidence suggests that data may be more accurate than decision makers suppose. (SLD)

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

A comprehensive assessment of the literacy proficiencies of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and Employment Service/Unemployment Insurance (ES/UI) participants was conducted by the Department of Labor. The survey responses of a sample of 2,501 JTPA applicants and 3,277 ES/UI participants were scored, weighted, analyzed, and used to develop a…

This paper provides an overview of common sampling methods (both the good and the bad) likely to be used in community college self-evaluations and presents the results from several simulated trials. The report begins by reviewing various survey techniques, discussing the negative and positive aspects of each method. The increased accuracy and…