A multidimensional Rasch-type item response model, the multidimensional random coefficients multinomial logit model, is presented as an extension to the Adams & Wilson (1996) random coefficients multinomial logit model. The model is developed in a form that permits generalization to the multidimensional case of a wide class of Rasch models, including the simple logistic model, Masters' partial credit model, Wilson's ordered partition model, and Fischer's linear logistic model. Moreover, the model includes several existing multidimensional models as special cases, including Whitely's multicomponent latent trait model, Andersen's multidimensional Rasch model for repeated testing, and Embretson's multidimensional Rasch model for learning and change. Marginal maximum likelihood estimators for the model are derived and the estimation is examined using a simulation study. Implications and applications of the model are discussed and an example is given.

The goal of environmental education is ultimately to enable a person to strive for and to attain a more ecological way of life. In this article, we begin by distinguishing three forms of environmental knowledge and go on to predict that people’s attitude toward nature represents the force that drives their ecological behavioral engagement. Based on data from 1,907 students, we calibrated previously established instruments to measure ecological behavior, environmental knowledge, and attitude toward nature with Rasch-type models. Using path modeling, we corroborated our theoretically anticipated competence structure. While environmental knowledge revealed a modest behavioral effect, attitude toward nature turned out to be, as expected, the stronger determinant of behavior. Overall, we propose a competence model that has the potential to guide us into more evidence-based ways of promoting the overall ecological engagement of individuals.

In this article, we describe the principles that guided the creation and implementation of a system of embedded assessments-the so-called BEAR (Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research) Assessment System. The assessment system was developed in the context of a specific curriculum in issues-oriented science for the middle grades but is designed generically to address the implementation of those principles. The assessment system builds on methodological advances in alternative assessment techniques and attempts to address salient issues in the integration of alternative assessment into the classroom teaching and learning context. The 4 principles are described, and we discuss how the application of these principles generates the component parts of the system and determines how the component parts work together. The use of teacher moderation to integrate the parts of the system in school and classroom is also discussed.