The problem of local item dependencies (LIDs) is very common in personality and attitude measures, particularly in those that measure narrow-bandwidth dimensions. At the structural level, these dependencies can be modeled by using extended factor analytic (FA) solutions that include correlated residuals. However, the effects that LIDs have on the…

Many methods are used to measure interrater reliability for studies where each target receives ratings by a different set of judges. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of hierarchical modeling for estimating interrater reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient. This study provides a description of how the ICC can be…

Variability is common in language sample analysis (LSA), arising from personal factors such as age or level of education, or from factors within the text such as its length and purpose. Variability can affect interpretation of results in clinical practice and research studies, as well as the ability to detect change in individuals over time. This…

Structural equation models comprise a large class of popular statistical models, including factor analysis models, certain mixed models, and extensions thereof. Model estimation is complicated by the fact that we typically have multiple interdependent response variables and multiple latent variables (which may also be called random effects or…

In social and behavioral sciences, data are typically not normally distributed, which can invalidate hypothesis testing and lead to unreliable results when being analyzed by methods developed for normal data. The existing methods of generating multivariate non-normal data typically create data according to specific univariate marginal measures…

Socially anxious adolescents commonly experience impaired interpersonal functioning with unfamiliar, same-age peers. Yet, we lack short screening tools for assessing peer-related impairments. Recent work revealed that a parent-reported, three-item screening tool produced scores that uniquely related to social anxiety concerns. However, this tool…

Recent research has suggested that re-setting the standard for each administration of a small sample examination, in addition to the high cost, does not adequately maintain similar performance expectations year after year. Small-sample equating methods have shown promise with samples between 20 and 30. For groups that have fewer than 20 students,…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") series of publications is published by the Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Articles included in this supplement are: (1) Overview and Methods for the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System --…

Research Question: This paper examines the overarching question of to what extent different analytic choices may influence the inference about country-specific cross-sectional and trend estimates in international large-scale assessments. We take data from the assessment of PISA mathematics proficiency from the four rounds from 2003 to 2012 as a…

When assessed, treatment fidelity is most often evaluated by checklists of intervention steps after an observation session, though estimates can vary depending on how intervention steps are operationalized and rated. A more straightforward approach may involve the adoption of direct observation methods such as time sampling or event recording,…

The information literacy (IL) assessment program at Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York, instituted in 2014-2015, evaluates students' information literacy capabilities as demonstrated in their written coursework, their test performance, and their comments on library instruction sessions. Both instruction and assessment are closely linked to…

Many emotion regulation assessments have been developed for research purposes, but few are frequently used in schools despite the rapid growth of social and emotional learning programs with an explicit focus on emotion regulation in schools. This systematic review provides an overview of emotion regulation assessments that have been utilized with…

Frequentists' inference often delivers point estimators associated with confidence intervals or sets for parameters of interest. Constructing the confidence intervals or sets requires understanding the sampling distributions of the point estimators, which, in many but not all cases, are related to asymptotic Normal distributions ensured by central…

Visual representations are prevalent in STEM instruction. To benefit from visuals, students need representational competencies that enable them to see meaningful information. Most research has focused on explicit conceptual representational competencies, but implicit perceptual competencies might also allow students to efficiently see meaningful…

Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation, which provide a mathematical tool to understand repeating patterns in time series data, are often used to facilitate the identification of model orders of time series models (e.g., moving average and autoregressive models). Asymptotic methods for testing autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation such…