The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the dramatic consequences the application of cut-off points can have in the practice of identifying gifted individuals. The paradoxical attenuation effect describes the frequent situation in which measurements of the gifts and talents individuals possess are lower than their true values. However, in…

This paper investigates how the precision and stability of a teacher's value-added estimate relates to the characteristics of the teacher's students. Using a large administrative data set and a variety of teacher value-added estimators, it finds that the stability over time of teacher value-added estimates can depend on the previous achievement…

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) is a research program that tracks young people as they move from school into further study, work and other destinations. This "User guide" has been developed for users of the LSAY data. The guide endeavours to consolidate existing technical documentation and other relevant information…

Several research groups have previously constructed short forms of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) for different languages. We consider the specific aim of constructing such a short form to be used for language screening in a specific age group. We present a novel strategy for the construction, which is applicable…

Objective: Symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and depression show high rates of co-occurrence, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. This study examines the extent to which variation in oppositional symptoms predict, variation in depressive symptoms over time, accounting for co-occurring depressive symptoms and measurement error.…

A belief bias effect in syllogistic reasoning (Evans, Barston, & Pollard, 1983) is observed when subjects accept more valid than invalid arguments and more believable than unbelievable conclusions and show greater overall accuracy in judging arguments with unbelievable conclusions. The effect is measured with a contrast of contrasts, comparing…

The work reported in this paper reflects a collaborative effort of many individuals representing multiple organizations. It began during a session at the October 2008 meeting of TILSA when a representative of a member state asked the group if any of their programs had experienced unexpected fluctuations in the annual state assessment scores, and…

Introduction: The aim of our research was to investigate the modality effect in more detail by measuring it in a direct way. Two studies were conducted using the same subject and material. Method: Computer-based learning material was presented on several screens, each containing a short text and a picture. Modality was varied by presenting written…

Reading fluency is a critical yet commonly neglected component of early reading instruction. For the large percentage of English language learners (ELLs) who are struggling with or at risk for reading difficulties, there is insufficient research available to help educators implement time-efficient interventions with these students. Using an…

The current study considers methodological challenges in developmental research with linguistically diverse samples of young adolescents. By empirically examining the cross-language measurement equivalence of a measure assessing three components of ethnic identity development (i.e., exploration, resolution, and affirmation) among Mexican American…

The standard errors of the 2 most widely used population-invariance measures of equating functions, root mean square difference (RMSD) and root expected mean square difference (REMSD), are not derived for common equating methods such as linear equating. Consequently, it is unknown how much noise is contained in these estimates. This paper…

Among the many methods available for modeling intraindividual time series, differential equation modeling has several advantages that make it promising for applications to psychological data. One interesting differential equation model is that of the damped linear oscillator (DLO), which can be used to model variables that have a tendency to…

Developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this user guide consolidates information about the LSAY 2009 cohort into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data; data restrictions; variable naming conventions; the structure of the data; documentation;…

Variable-length computerized adaptive testing (CAT) can provide examinees with tailored test lengths. With the fixed standard error of measurement ("SEM") termination rule, variable-length CAT can achieve predetermined measurement precision by using relatively shorter tests compared to fixed-length CAT. To explore the application of…

The Mantel-Haenszel (MH) and logistic regression (LR) differential item functioning (DIF) procedures have inflated Type I error rates when there are large mean group differences, short tests, and large sample sizes.When there are large group differences in mean score, groups matched on the observed number-correct score differ on true score,…