This article serves as a practical guide to mediation design and analysis by evaluating the ability of mediation models to detect a significant mediation effect using limited data. The cross-sectional mediation model, which has been shown to be biased when the mediation is happening over time, is compared with longitudinal mediation models:…

Mokken scale analysis is a probabilistic nonparametric approach that offers statistical and graphical tools for evaluating the quality of social science measurement without placing potentially inappropriate restrictions on the structure of a data set. In particular, Mokken scaling provides a useful method for evaluating important measurement…

This article is concerned with developing a measure of general academic ability (GAA) for high school graduates who apply to colleges, as well as with the identification of optimal weights of the GAA indicators in a linear combination that yields a composite score with maximal reliability and maximal predictive validity, employing the framework of…

A cognitive diagnostic model uses information from educational experts to describe the relationships between item performances and posited proficiencies. When the cognitive relationships can be described using a fully Bayesian model, Bayesian model checking procedures become available. Checking models tied to cognitive theory of the domains…

Many challenges exist for high-stakes testing programs offering continuous computerized administration. The automated assembly of test questions to exactly meet content and other requirements, provide uniformity, and control item exposure can be modeled and solved by mixed-integer programming (MIP) methods. A case study of the computerized…

Institutions of higher education want to diversify their learning climates, and many offer courses in multiculturalism, yet these courses still do not meet the needs of attitudinal change. A new instrument was developed, the Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE), that was theoretically based in Banks's transformative approach,…

Procedures for carrying out a Shine Combined (repeated measures) Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) when there are unequal group sizes are described. (Author/JKS)

The Shine-Bower single subject analysis of variance is extended from being applicable to only an even number of trials to being applicable to any number of trials. (Author/JKS)

Psychometric characteristics of the test scores of 5,663 examinees on six patient management problem tests were studied. The total scores can be divided into subscores based on all options keyed "select" and "omit." Component scores are generally correlated negatively, as reflected in reduced discrimination indices and…

The Shine-Bower error term is used to form approximate F ratios for testing various effects in the Shine-Bower single-subject ANOVA and the Shine Combined ANOVA. Results demonstrate the utility of these F ratios with respect to the probability of a type I error. (Author/JKS)

Two reviews consider the program-evaluation standards of the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluations. This edition makes the complexity, risks, and power of evaluation clear through descriptive writing and case illustrations. The organization and content of the standards document are described. (SLD)

Investigated the robustness of the group-level polytomous Item Response Theory model to violations of assumptions of school-level normality and within-school normality and constant variance with eight large simulated case samples. Discusses the precision obtained in estimating school ability. (SLD)

Studied the effect of including nonindependent correlations in the meta-analysis method of J. Hunter and F. Schmidt on the estimated population standard deviation. Evaluation indicates that the Hunter and Schmidt method will underestimate the true population standard deviation. Developed new methods to correct for this and illustrated the methods…