In the United States, African-American students often face challenges that arise from structural stigma, which can inhibit their ability to learn and grow in the classroom and in their daily lives. Structural stigma, along with centuries of racist attitudes and policies, can impede student progress and is a challenge for policymakers, business…

This booklet grew out of a half-day class on equating that author Samuel Livingston teaches for new statistical staff at Educational Testing Service (ETS). The class is a nonmathematical introduction to the topic, emphasizing conceptual understanding and practical applications. The class consists of illustrated lectures, interspersed with…

Recently, the literature has seen increasing interest in subscores for their potential diagnostic values; for example, one study suggested the report of weighted averages of a subscore and the total score, whereas others showed, for various operational and simulated data sets, that weighted averages, as compared to subscores, lead to more accurate…

The purpose of this study was to consider the relationships of prediction, measurement, and scaling invariance when these invariances were simultaneously evaluated in psychometric test data. An approach was developed to evaluate prediction, measurement, and scaling invariance based on linear and nonlinear prediction, measurement, and scaling…

The purpose of this study is to explore the validity evidence supporting the high-leverage practices (HLPs) of the ETS® National Observational Teaching Exam (NOTE) assessment series, a kindergarten through 6th grade teacher licensure assessment. HLPs include "tasks and activities that are essential for skillful beginning teachers to…

The study evaluated the effectiveness of log-linear presmoothing (Holland & Thayer, 1987) on the accuracy of small sample chained equipercentile equatings under two conditions (i.e., using small samples that differed randomly in ability from the target population "versus" using small samples that were distinctly different from the…

As is the case for any statistical model, a multidimensional latent growth model comes with certain requirements with respect to the data collection design. In order to measure growth, repeated measurements of the same set of individuals are required. Furthermore, the data collection design should be specified such that no individual is given the…

Three multidimensional item response theory (IRT) models for testlet-based tests are described. In the bifactor model (Gibbons & Hedeker, 1992), each item measures a general dimension in addition to a testlet-specific dimension. The testlet model (Bradlow, Wainer, & Wang, 1999) is a bifactor model in which the loadings on the specific dimensions…

This paper presents the rationale and research base for a reading competency model designed to guide the development of cognitively based assessment of reading comprehension. The model was developed from a detailed review of the cognitive research on reading and learning and a review of state standards for language arts. A survey of the literature…