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An approach that is currently gaining popularity in educational measurement is one that treats item response theory (IRT) as a special case of nonlinear factor analysis (NLFA). A brief overview is provided of some of the research that has examined the relationship between IRT and NLFA. Three NLFA models are outlined, emphasizing their major strengths and weaknesses. These are: (1) McDonald's polynomial approximation to a normal ogive model; (2) the factor analytic model for dichotomous variables of Christoffersson and Muthen (1975, 1984); and the full-information factor analytic model of Bock and Aitkin (1981) and Bock, Gibbons, and Muraki (1988). Although the full-information factor analytic model appears to be the strongest of the approaches described, it appears that a greater number of empirical studies should be undertaken to compare the various NLFA models with respect to how accurately they can recover simulated parameter values. An appendix presents an IRT-NLFA proof. (Contains 61 references.) (SLD)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert