The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) uses the Language and Literacy Assessment Rubric (LALAR) as the secondary measurement required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to measure English proficiency of English language learners (ELLs). In this analysis, the Rasch model is used to identify whether the LALAR is a valid measurement…

Students' evaluations of teaching staff can be considered high-stakes, as they are often used to determine promotion, reappointment, and merit pay to academics. Using Facets, the reliability and validity of one student rating questionnaire is analysed. A total of 13,940 respondents of the Human Science Division of International Islamic University…

This article describes the development of a ten-item scale to assess biology majors' self-efficacy towards the critical thinking and data analysis skills taught in an upper-division cell biology course. The original seven-item scale was expanded to include three additional items based on the results of item analysis. Evidence of reliability and…

Examined the sensitivity to change over time of the Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis Assessment Questionnaire (ALSAQ-40; C. Jenkinson and others, 1999). Findings for 764 individuals show that the ALSAQ-40 is a valid and responsive disease-specific health-related quality of life instrument for studies of patients with motor neuron diseases. (SLD)

Developed and validated an instrument designed to measure the perceived measurability and importance of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Athletic Training Educational Competencies. Data from 931 athletic trainers and sport medicine physicians support 6 constructs, each of which demonstrates high reliability. (SLD)

Studied the dimensionality and construct validity of the School Development Expectation Scale for use with Year 12 students in Australia. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the postulated five-factor model in the validation sample of 8,310 students. The scale was calibrated using the Rasch rating scale, and recommendations were made to refine…

Discusses the limitations and methodological weaknesses of most popular standard setting models and presents a radically different approach to the question of setting standards, the Objective Standard Setting Model, based on the Rasch model. Also makes suggestions for new considerations of validity in standard setting. (SLD)

Outlines methods in Rasch measurement that are used to gather evidence for reliability and validity and attempts to articulate how these methods may be linked with current views of reliability and validity. (SLD)

Undertook two studies (n=113 and n=55) a year apart, to create an instrument that measures nutritional competence and self-efficacy among prospective physicians. Results using Rasch modeling demonstrate the reliability and validity of the scale for assessing mastery of applied nutrition among prospective physicians. (SLD)