Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT) has been widely used in educational and psychological assessments. It estimates multiple constructs simultaneously and models the correlations among latent constructs. While it provides more accurate results, the unidimensional IRT model is still dominant in real applications. One major reason is that…

In this study, the performance of the Lambda Coefficient of Rater-Mediated Agreement was evaluated with other chance-corrected agreement coefficients. Lambda is grounded in rater-mediated assessment theory and was developed as an alternative to Kappa (Cohen, 1960) and other chance-corrected agreement coefficients. Lambda has two variations, a…

Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the feasibility of using tests of robustness in peer review. This study involved selecting three high-impact papers which featured open data and utilized bioinformatic analyses but provided no source code and refactoring these to allow external survey participants to swap tools,…

Machine learning has achieved state-of-the-art performance in many areas, including image recognition and natural language processing. However, there are still many challenges and mysteries attracting numerous researchers. This dissertation comprises a series of works concerning problems at the intersection of computer science theory, adversarial…

This dissertation is composed of a study of estimation methods in classical and test theories and the elaboration and application of a cluster-robust variance estimator. Variance estimators derived from generalized estimating equations are known to be robust to most covariance structures and are therefore well suited for psychometric analysis of…

The present study was motivated by the theory-method mismatch between heterotypic continuity (aspects of development that manifest differently across the lifespan thus cannot be measured the same way over time) and longitudinal measurement equivalence (the statistical assumption that the developmental phenomenon studied is measured on the same…

This study examined the utility of using cost-effectiveness analysis to select universal mathematics screening measures in middle school. Participants (n=1586) were students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 at two suburban middle schools in Wisconsin. Screening data, including previous year criterion-measure (Wisconsin Forward Exam) scores, fall Measures of…

Measurement invariance is crucial for an effective and valid measure of a construct. Invariance holds when the latent trait varies consistently across subgroups; in other words, the mean differences among subgroups are only due to true latent ability differences. Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when measurement invariance is violated.…

Multilevel experiments have been widely used in education and social sciences to evaluate causal effects of interventions. Two key considerations in designing experimental studies are statistical power and the minimal use of resources. Optimal design framework simultaneously addresses both considerations. This dissertation extends previous optimal…

Online learning is one of the most important and well-established machine learning models. Generally speaking, the goal of online learning is to make a sequence of accurate predictions "on the fly," given some information of the correct answers to previous prediction tasks. Online learning has been extensively studied in recent years,…

This research examines issues regarding model estimation and robustness in the use of Bayesian Inference Networks (BINs) for measuring Learning Progressions (LPs). It provides background information on LPs and how they might be used in practice. Two simulation studies are performed, along with real data examples. The first study examines the case…

Many research studies involving Pearson correlations are conducted in settings where one of the two variables has a restricted range in the sample. For example, this situation occurs when tests are used for selecting candidates for employment or university admission. Often after selection, there is interest in correlating the selection variable,…

Curriculum-Based Measures in writing (CBM-W) assesses a variety of fluency-based components of writing. While support exists for the use of CBM measures in the area of writing, there is a need to conduct further validation studies to investigate the utility of these measures within elementary and secondary classrooms. Since only countable indices…

Compressed sensing (CS) is an emerging signal acquisition framework that goes against the traditional Nyquist sampling paradigm. CS demonstrates that a sparse, or compressible, signal can be acquired using a low rate acquisition process. Since noise is always present in practical data acquisition systems, sensing and reconstruction methods are…

A simulation study was conducted to explore the performance of the linear logistic test model (LLTM) when the relationships between items and cognitive components were misspecified. Factors manipulated included percent of misspecification (0%, 1%, 5%, 10%, and 15%), form of misspecification (under-specification, balanced misspecification, and…