Construct maps and related item type frameworks, which respectively describe and identify common patterns in student reasoning, provide teachers with tools to support instruction built upon students’ intuitive thinking. We present a methodological approach–embedded within common assessment development processes–for developing such construct maps and item type frameworks which entails (1) articulating a construct map, (2) developing diagnostic item types, (3) comparing item type difficulties, and (4) modifying or providing evidence in support of the construct map. We present an example focused on students’ proportional reasoning based on its centrality to mathematical success. The results further inform our construct map for students’ proportional reasoning and provide a diagnostic item-type framework.

This article explores the clinical implications of the three different classes drawn from a Rasch analysis of the general movements optimality scores (GMOS) of 383 infants. Parametric analysis of the class membership examines four variables: age of assessment, brain injury presence, general movement patterns, and 2-year-old outcomes. GMOS separated infants with typical (class 3) from atypical development, and further separated cerebral palsy (class 2) from other neurodevelopmental disorders (class 1). Each class is unique regarding its quantitative and qualitative representations on the four variables. The GMOS has strong psychometric properties and provides a quantitative measure of early motor functions. The GMOS can be confidently used to assist with early diagnosis and predict distinct classes of developmental outcomes, grade motor behaviors, and provide a solid base to study individual general movement developmental trajectories.

AIM To explore the psychometric properties of the general movements optimality score (GMOS) by examining its dimensionality, rating scale functioning, and item hierarchies using Rasch measurement. METHODS Secondary data analysis of the GMOS data for video-recording of 383 infants with uni-, multidimensional, and mixed Rasch partial credit models. Videos were scored based on the global General Movement Assessment categories, and on the amplitude, speed, spatial range, proximal and distal rotations, onset and offset, tremulous and cramped components of the upper and lower extremities (21 items), resulting in the GMOS. RESULTS The GMOS data fits best to a unidimensional mixed Rasch model with three different classes of infants, with all but two items contributing to the infants' separation. Rating scales functioned well for 19 items. Item difficulty hierarchies varied depending on infants' class. No floor effect and no substantive gaps between item difficulty estimates were found. CONCLUSION The GMOS has strong psychometric properties to distinguish infants with different functional motor performance and provides a quantitative measure of quality of movement. INTERPRETATION The GMOS can be confidently used to assist with early diagnosis, grade motor performance, and provide a solid base to study individual general movement developmental trajectories.

PURPOSE There is a growing interest in applying continuous quality improvement (CQI) methodologies and tools to medical education contexts. One such tool, the "Are We Making Progress" questionnaire from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award framework, adequately captures the dimensions critical for performance excellence and allows organizations to assess their performance and identify areas for improvement. Its results have been widely validated in business, education, and health care and might be applicable in medical education contexts. The measurement properties of the questionnaire data were analyzed using Rasch modeling to determine if validity evidence, based on Messick's framework, supports the interpretation of results in medical education contexts. Rasch modeling was performed since the questionnaire uses Likert-type scales whose estimates might not be amenable to parametric statistical analyses. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Leaders and teachers at 16 of the 17 Canadian medical schools were invited in 2015-2016 to complete the 40-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the ConQuest Rasch calibration program, rating scale model. FINDINGS 491 faculty members from 11 (69 percent) schools participated. A seven-dimensional, four-point response scale model better fit the data. Overall data fit to model requirements supported the use of person measures with parametric statistics. The structural, content, generalizability, and substantive validity evidence supported the interpretation of results in medical education contexts. ORIGINALITY/VALUE For the first time, the Baldrige questionnaire results were validated in medical education contexts. Medical education leaders are encouraged to serially use this questionnaire to measure progress on their school's CQI focus.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the dimensionality and psychometric properties of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) among Black South African adolescents (ages = 13–14; 52% female) representing several ethnic groups (Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu) and evaluated the measure for differential item functioning primarily among four ethnic groups (Sotho, Tswana, Xhosa, and Zulu). Results indicated that a two-dimensional model best represented the data, reflecting ethnic search/clarity and ethnic affirmations. Subsequently, we evaluated the equivalence of the MEIM among the four South African ethnic groups and a sample of African American adolescents (Mage = 15.57 years; SD = 1.22; 51% female). Further analyses revealed that configural and metric models were excellent across the four South African ethnic groups and the African American group. However, scalar invariance (i.e., intercept) was not found; the item intercepts were different for the South African ethnic groups and African Americans. Findings are discussed with consideration for conducting research on ethnic identity among youth in South Africa.

Emotion recognition (ER) involves understanding what others are feeling by interpreting nonverbal behavior, including facial expressions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of a web-based social ER assessment designed for children in kindergarten through third grade. Data were collected from two separate samples of children. The first sample included 3,224 children and the second sample included 4,419 children. Data were calibrated using Rasch dichotomous model. Differential item and test functioning were also evaluated across gender and ethnicity. Across both samples, we found consistent item fit, unidimensional item structure, and adequate item targeting. Analyses of differential item functioning (DIF) found six out of 111 items displaying DIF across gender and no items demonstrating DIF across ethnicity. The analyses of person measure calibrations with and without DIF items yielded no evidence of differential test functioning (DTF) across gender and ethnicity groups in both samples.

The Child Observation Record (COR), initially developed in 1993 by HighScope Educational Research Foundation, is an observation-based instrument that provides systematic assessment of young children's knowledge and abilities in all major areas of development. Teachers or caregivers spend a few minutes each day writing brief notes or "anecdotes" that objectively describe significant episodes of young children's activities. The anecdotes are then classified and scored according to various COR categories, items, and levels, providing a comprehensive portrait of each child's developmental gains and the progress of the group as a whole. In 2012, the COR was revised to span the developmental range from infancy and toddlerhood through kindergarten. The validation evidence for the revised instrument, the COR Advantage, was gathered in two phases-an initial validation phase and the multi-state implementation validation phase. The results from both phases show that the COR Advantage generates scores which are internally consistent and inferences made from scores that are valid for (a) documenting the developmental trajectories of children from birth through kindergarten in all key areas of children's development, and (b) capturing developmental milestones of children from varied backgrounds with diverse abilities when used by early childhood professionals.

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the job embeddedness instrument (JEI) using a Rasch perspective in a sample of Registered Nurses (RNs). A secondary analysis of data was conducted from a previous study examining the job embeddedness of rural and urban RNs. A Rasch analysis supported the six underlying dimensions: organizational fit, community fit, organizational links, community links, organizational sacrifice, and community sacrifice. The results of this study also demonstrate additional evidence of the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the JEI inferences with a sample of RNs. In total, 38 of 39 items of the original JEI were retained in the model. The psychometric evaluation attained through this multidimensional Rasch analysis provided support for using the JEI to assess the level of job embeddedness for RNs.

Social perspective-taking (SPT), which involves the ability infer others' intentions, is a consequential social cognitive process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of a web-based social perspective-taking (SELweb SPT) assessment designed for children in kindergarten through third grade. Data were collected from two separate samples of children. The first sample included 3224 children and the second sample included 4419 children. Data were calibrated using Rasch dichotomous model (Rasch, 1960). Differential item and test functioning were also evaluated across gender and ethnicity groups. Across both samples, we found: evidence of consistent item fit; unidimensional item structure; and adequate item targeting. Poor item targeting at high and low ability levels suggests that more items are needed to distinguish low and high ability respondents. Analyses of DIF found some significant item-level DIF across gender, but no DIF across ethnicity. The analyses of person measure calibrations with and without DIF items evidenced negligible differential test functioning (DTF) across gender and ethnicity groups in both samples.

Introduction: Rates of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among vulnerable populations have increased in recent years, highlighting a need to equip providers with an efficient screening tool. Materials and Methods: A short form of the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R) was developed by using item response theory and traditional statistical methods, with data from two community samples of cannabis users representing two countries. Four item selection methods (Rasch regression, test characteristic curve, logistic regression, discriminant function analysis) were employed to identify the optimal three-item shortened version. The diagnostic ability of the short form was evaluated by using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: Using a cut score of 2, the 3-item CUDIT-Short Form (CUDIT-SF; reliability alpha=0.66, Sample 1; 0.80, Sample 2) identified 78.26% of participants in Sample 1 and 78.31% of participants in Sample 2 who met DSM-5 criteria for CUD, with 98% agreement in Sample 1 and 93% agreement in Sample 2 with the full CUDIT-R on CUD classifications using a cut score of 13. Specificity was 76.70 and 78.00 in Samples 1 and 2, respectively. Conclusions: The CUDIT-SF may be useful in busy clinical settings for a stepwise screening. Further validation of this shortened version with larger samples and in different settings is warranted.

Proportional reasoning is important to students’ future success in mathematics and science endeavors. More specifically, students’ fluent and flexible use of scalar and functional relationships to solve problems is critical to their ability to reason proportionally. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of systematically manipulating the location of an integer multiplier—to press the scalar or functional relationship—on item difficulty and student solution strategies. We administered short-answer assessment forms to 473 students in grades 6–8 (approximate ages 11–14) and analyzed the data quantitatively with the Rasch model to examine item accessibility and qualitatively to examine student solution strategies. We found that manipulating the location of the integer multiplier encouraged students to make use of different aspects of proportional relationships without decreasing item accessibility. Implications for proportional reasoning curricular materials, instruction, and assessment are addressed.

We developed and optimized a series of Web GIS investigations that use features designed to promote middle school students’ geospatial thinking skills and enhance their tectonics learning. In the current methodological study, we employed latent transition analysis (LTA) with a binary covariate (gender and then track) to characterize transitions over time (pretest to posttest) in tectonics learning. Data from 1,124 students of four urban middle schools included a preand posttest tectonics and geospatial thinking and reasoning achievement measure. Advantages of modeling academic profiles as a categorical latent variable, as well as its implications for science instruction, are discussed as compared with common mean-comparison methods (paired-sample t test and mixed ANOVA).

Understanding language development is incomplete without recognizing children's sociocultural environments, including adult beliefs about language development. Yet there is a need for data supporting valid inferences to assess these beliefs. The current study investigated the psychometric properties of data from a survey (MODeL) designed to explore beliefs in the popular culture, and their alignment with more formal theories. Support for the content, substantive, structural, generalizability, and external aspects of construct validity of the data were investigated. Subscales representing Behaviorist, Cognitive, Nativist, and Sociolinguistic models were identified as dimensions of beliefs. More than half of the items showed a high degree of consensus, suggesting culturally-transmitted beliefs. Behaviorist ideas were most popular. Bilingualism and ethnicity were related to Cognitive and Sociolinguistic beliefs. Identifying these beliefs may clarify the nature of child-directed speech, and enable the design of language intervention programs that are congruent with family and cultural expectations.

In this study, we used the Mixed Rasch Model (MRM) to analyze data from the Beliefs and Attitudes About Memory Survey (BAMS; Brown, Garry, Silver, and Loftus, 1997). We used the original 5-point BAMS data to investigate the functioning of the "Neutral" category via threshold analysis under a 2-class MRM solution. The "Neutral" category was identified as not eliciting the model expected responses and observations in the "Neutral" category were subsequently treated as missing data. For the BAMS data without the "Neutral" category, exploratory MRM analyses specifying up to 5 latent classes were conducted to evaluate data-model fit using the consistent Akaike information criterion (CAIC). For each of three BAMS subscales, a two latent class solution was identified as fitting the mixed Rasch rating scale model the best. Results regarding threshold analysis, person parameters, and item fit based on the final models are presented and discussed as well as the implications of this study.

This study describes and demonstrates a set of processes for developing new forms of examinations which are intended to have equivalent cut scores in the raw score metric. This approach goes beyond the traditional Rasch-based approach which develops forms with cut scores that are equated in the logit metric. The methods described in this study can be used to create multiple forms of an assessment, all of which have the same raw score cut score (i.e., the number correct required to pass each examination form represents the same amount of the underlying construct). This paper provides an overview of equating standards, the research related specifically to pre-equating procedures, and three guidelines which can be used to achieve equal raw score cut scores. Three examples of how to use the guidelines as part of an iterative form-development process are provided using simulated data sets.

To ensure that researchers and practitioners make valid interpretations from children's self-reports, evidence must demonstrate that the self-report has appropriate psychometric properties. The Child Occupational Self Assessment (COSA) is a self-report of occupational competence and value for everyday activities designed to involve children in identifying goals and assessing outcomes. Five hundred two children with disabilities, ages 6-17, completed the COSA. We used a Rasch Partial Credit model and parametric and nonparametric statistics to obtain validity evidence. Evidence suggests that the COSA has good content, structural, and substantive validity as given by item and child fit statistics and unidimensionality evaluation. Evidence for external validity was mixed because child fit status and measures varied with some demographic and assessment administration variables. Evidence suggests that most children's responses to the COSA can be validly interpreted as indicators of occupational competence and value for everyday activities.

Kramer JM, Smith EV Jr, Kielhofner G. Rating scale use by children with disabilities on a self-report of everyday activities. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2009;90:2047-53.Objective: To examine whether children with disabilities interpret a self-report of perceived competence and importance of everyday activities in a consistent manner and use the rating scales as intended. If not, are differences in how children interpret the scale associated with personal or contextual variables?Design: Assessment and rating scale development using the Mixed Rasch Model.Setting: Rehabilitation clinics, schools, and research sites in the United States and Europe.Participants: Children (N=407) aged 6 to 17 years; all had a diagnosed disability or received occupational therapy services.Interventions: Not applicable.Main Outcome Measure: The Child Occupational Self Assessment: 25 items representing everyday activities and two 4-point scales: competence and importance.Results: For each scale. 2 groups of children were identified. Approximately 50% of the children used the rating scales as intended. The remainder used the scales as reversed 2-point scales; these children were younger and more likely to have an intellectual disability. Country and practice setting were also associated with rating scale use. All items but 1 had acceptable fit to the Rasch model, and groups of children differed in the relative competence and importance reported.Conclusions: Personal and contextual variables are associated with children with disabilities' use of self-report rating scales. Younger children and children with intellectual disabilities use a modified response pattern.

Silver, Smith and Greene (2001) examined the dimensionality of responses to the Study Skills Self-Efficacy Scale (SSSES) using exploratory principal factor analysis (PFA) and Rasch measurement techniques based on a sample of social science students from a community college in the United States. They found that responses defined three related dimensions. In the present study, Messick's (1995) conceptualization of validity was used to organize the exploration of the psychometric properties of data from a Chinese version of the SSSES. Evidence related to the content aspect of validity was obtained via item fit evaluation; the substantive aspect of validity was addressed by examining the functioning of the rating scales; the structural aspect of validity was explored with exploratory PFA and Rasch item fit statistics; and support for the generalizability aspect of validity was investigate via differential item functioning and internal consistency reliability estimates for both items and persons. The exploratory PFA and Rasch analysis of responses to the Chinese version of the SSSES were conducted with a sample of 494 Hong Kong high school students. Four factors emerged including Study Routines, Resource Use, Text-Based Critical Thinking, and Self-Modification. The fit of the data to the Rasch rating scale model for each dimension generally supported the unidimensionality of the four constructs. The ordered average measures and thresholds from the four Rasch analyses supported the continued use of the six-point response format. Item and person reliability were found to be adequate. Differential item functioning across gender and language taught in was minimal.

Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world, the mechanisms associated with consumption are not well understood. Nonetheless, outcome expectancies for caffeine use are thought to underlie caffeine's reinforcing properties. To date, however, there is no available, sufficient measure by which to assess caffeine expectancy. Therefore, the current study sought to develop such a measure employing Rasch measurement models. Unlike traditional measurement development techniques, Rasch analyses afford dynamic and interactive control of the analysis process and generate helpful information to guide instrument construction. A 5-stage developmental process is described, ultimately yielding a 37-item Caffeine Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) comprised of 4 factors representing "withdrawal symptoms," "positive effects," "acute negative effects," and "mood effects." Initial evaluation of the CEQ yielded sufficient evidence for various aspects of validity. Although additional research with more heterogeneous samples is required to further assess the measure's reliability and validity, the CEQ demonstrates potential with regard to its utility in experimental laboratory research and clinical application.