There is a longstanding debate on whether the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) or the change score approach is more appropriate when analyzing non-experimental longitudinal data. In this article, we use a structural modeling perspective to clarify that the ANCOVA approach is based on the assumption that all relevant covariates are measured (i.e.,…

Recruiting participants for studies of early-life longitudinal development is challenging, often resulting in practical upper bounds in sample size and missing data due to attrition. These factors pose risks for the statistical power of such studies depending on the intended analytic model. One mitigation strategy is to increase measurement…

Cluster randomized control trials often incorporate a longitudinal component where, for example, students are followed over time and student outcomes are measured repeatedly. Besides examining how intervention effects induce changes in outcomes, researchers are sometimes also interested in exploring whether intervention effects on outcomes are…

Traditional psychometric methods have primarily been developed and applied in the context of high-stakes, large-scale testing. However, these methods are increasingly being used with classroom assessments, including progress monitoring measures where numerous test forms are administered over the course of an academic year. This article provides an…

In multilevel multiple-indicator multiple-cause (MIMIC) models, covariates can interact at the within level, at the between level, or across levels. This study examines the performance of multilevel MIMIC models in estimating and detecting the interaction effect of two covariates through a simulation and provides an empirical demonstration of…

Research shows that learning conceptions are susceptible to change during possible critical transitions in students' school careers: such as the transition from primary to secondary education and the transition from secondary to higher education. This study aims to determine whether students' learning conceptions developed during the four years of…

A central assumption of identity theory is that adolescents reconsider current identity commitments and explore identity alternatives before they make new commitments in various identity domains (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966). Yet, little empirical evidence is available on how commitment and exploration dynamics of identity formation affect each…

Researchers are often interested in studying how the timing of a specific event affects concurrent and future development. When faced with such research questions there are multiple statistical models to consider and those models are the focus of this paper as well as their theoretical underpinnings and assumptions regarding the nature of the…

Researchers in the field of early adolescence interested in quantifying the environmental influences on a response variable of interest over time would use cluster sampling (i.e., obtaining repeated measures from students nested within classrooms and/or schools) to obtain the needed sample size. The resulting longitudinal data would be nested at…

School-based discipline can negatively shape the educational outcomes of students, particularly for racial and ethnic minorities. Because racial and ethnic minority youth are at risk for educational failure and marginalized within schools, academic and sport extracurricular activities are often presented as a means to ameliorate educational risk…

The aim of this longitudinal study among 9223 students from grade 7 and grade 9 (age 13-14 and 15-16) was to assess whether immigrant status and gender are associated with the level and change (slope) in school burnout among lower secondary school students in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Ninety-seven percent of the variation in school burnout…

This longitudinal study examined the influence of prekindergarten teacher characteristics and classroom instructional processes during mathematical activities on the growth of mathematics learning scores in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. Participants attended state-funded and Head Start prekindergarten programs. Mathematical…

Screening is necessary to detect risk and prevent reading failure. Yet the amount of screening that commonly occurs in U.S. schools may undermine its value, creating more error in decision making and lost instructional opportunity. This 2-year longitudinal study examined the decision accuracy associated with collecting concurrent reading screening…

Purpose: Due to the ethical concern around involuntary treatment, this study sought to investigate if youth participants in wilderness therapy who were transported to the program experienced different rates of change than those not transported. Methods: Multilevel modeling techniques were used to investigate rates of change for youth between…

In this paper, we analyze a two-level latent variable model for longitudinal data from the National Growth of Health Study where surrogate outcomes or biomarkers and covariates are subject to missingness at any of the levels. A conventional method for efficient handling of missing data is to reexpress the desired model as a joint distribution of…