Cloud computing-based online education has played a vital role in enabling uninterrupted learning during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored the key variables associated with cloud computing that can effectively support the operation of online education platforms. By analyzing real data from 63 online learning platforms, the…

Conventional estimators for indirect effects using a difference in coefficients and product of coefficients produce the same results for continuous outcomes. However, for binary outcomes, the difference in coefficient estimator systematically underestimates the indirect effects because of a scaling problem. One solution is to standardize…

This study evaluates various scoring methods including number-correct scoring, IRT theta scoring, and hybrid scoring in terms of scale-score stability over time. A simulation study was conducted to examine the relative performance of five scoring methods in terms of preserving the first two moments of scale scores for a population in a chain of…

One of the primary goals of international large-scale assessments in education is the comparison of country means in student achievement. This article introduces a framework for discussing differential item functioning (DIF) for such mean comparisons. We compare three different linking methods: concurrent scaling based on full invariance,…

Credentialing examination developers rely on task (job) analyses for establishing inventories of task and knowledge areas in which competency is required for safe and successful practice in target occupations. There are many ways in which task-related information may be gathered from practitioner ratings, each with its own advantage and…

Education is crucial for the cultivation of successful individuals, healthy communities, robust societies, strong economies, and a healing planet. Yet, while most available education measures show impressive improvement in access in low- and middle-income countries over recent decades, there remains a heartbreaking gap in educational outcomes…

Much of what we know about how children develop is based on survey data. In order to estimate growth across time and, thereby, better understand that development, short survey scales are typically administered at repeated timepoints. Before estimating growth, those repeated measures must be put onto the same scale. Yet, little research examines…

One of the largest challenges in educator preparation in higher education is the effective use of data for actionable and meaningful decision making about programs for current and future educators, administrators, and educational leaders. Within programs there are many types of students. These may include elementary, secondary, special education,…

This study shows that residual variation can cause problems related to scaling in exponential random graph models (ERGM). Residual variation is likely to exist when there are unmeasured variables in a model--even those uncorrelated with other predictors--or when the logistic form of the model is inappropriate. As a consequence, coefficients cannot…

This research was triggered by the identified need in literature for large-scale studies about the kinds of designs that teachers create for mobile learning (m-learning). These studies require analyses of large datasets of learning designs. The common approach followed by researchers when analyzing designs has been to manually classify them…

This paper presents evidence confirming the validity of the RD design in the Reading Recovery study by examining the ability of the RD design to replicate the 1st grade results observed in the original i3 RCT focused on short-term impacts. Over 1,800 schools participated in the RD study over all four cohort years. The RD design used cutoff-based…

Molenaar extended Mokken's original probabilistic-nonparametric scaling models for use with polytomous data. These polytomous extensions of Mokken's original scaling procedure have facilitated the use of Mokken scale analysis as an approach to exploring fundamental measurement properties across a variety of domains in which polytomous ratings are…

The purpose of this study was to examine the significance level of problems experienced in the transition from elementary to secondary education by using the rank-order scaling method. The study was conducted using a mixed-methods design. Forty-two eighth-and ninth-grade students from different types of public schools and 15 teachers were selected…

Increasing use of item pools in large-scale educational assessments calls for an appropriate scaling procedure to achieve a common metric among field-tested items. The present study examines scaling procedures for developing a new item pool under a spiraled block linking design. The three scaling procedures are considered: (a) concurrent…

This study examines the dependability of two scaling approaches for using a five-item Direct Behavior Rating multi-item scale to assess student disruptive behavior. A series of generalizability theory studies were used to compare a traditional frequency-based scaling approach with an approach wherein the informant compares a target student's…