Dr. Brandi Weiss

Dr. Brandi Weiss headshot

Dr. Brandi Weiss

Associate Professor, Educational Research


School: Graduate School of Education and Human Development

Department: Educational Leadership

Contact:

Office Phone: (202) 994-4362

Please visit Dr. Weiss’ academic website: http://blogs.gwu.edu/weissba for more information about her research and teaching.

Dr. Brandi A. Weiss is an Associate Professor and Director of Research Methods. She received her Ph.D. in Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation from the University of Maryland at College Park, and holds an M.A. in Assessment, Measurement, and Statistics with a focus in psychological sciences from James Madison University. Her research interests include methodological issues in latent variable modeling, data-model fit, person-fit, structural equation modeling, scale development, and nonlinear modeling. Her research has appeared in such journals as Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, Psychological Methods, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Research and Practice in Assessment, and Applied Psychological Measurement.

Dr. Weiss has over a fifteen years of experience working as a statistical and psychometric consultant. She has worked with clients across a wide array of disciplines such as: audiology, business marketing, education, exercise science, human development, marine biology, medical sciences, neuropsychology, psychology, social work, and student affairs. She has also worked with a broad variety of assessment types including: large-scale University-wide assessments, item banking for computer-adaptive tests, instrument and survey design, and small-scale program evaluations. She served as the methodologist of the PETIT (Prematurity’s Effects on Toddlers, Infants and Teens) study for four years examining longitudinal neuropsychological, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes of prematurely born children until the study concluded in 2016.

Dr. Weiss has taught numerous graduate-level courses in quantitative methods at GW including: Foundations of Assessment, Testing, and Measurement; Introduction to Educational Statistics; Group Comparison and Design Analyses; Predictive Analyses; Structural Equation Modeling; Data Management; and Factor Analysis. Prior to working at GW, she taught courses in Classroom Assessment and Introductory Statistics at The University of Maryland.


Ph.D., University of Maryland (Measurement, Statistics, Evaluation)

M.A., James Madison University (Assessment, Measurement, Statistics)

B.S., James Madison University (Psychology)

Weiss, B. A., & Dardick, W. (2020). Making the Cut: Comparing Methods for Selecting Cut-Point Location in Logistic Regression. The Journal of Experimental Education89(4), 721–741. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2019.1689375 

Dardick, W. R., & Weiss, B. A. (2019). An Investigation of chi-square and entropy based methods of item-fit using item level contamination in item response theory. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods, 18(2), eP3208. doi: 10.22237/jmasm/1604190480

Dardick, W., & Weiss, B. A. (in press). Entropy-based measures for person fit in item response theory. Applied Psychological Measurement.

Weiss, B. A., & Dardick, W. (2016). An entropy-based measure for assessing fuzziness in logistic regression. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 76, 986 – 1004. doi: 10.1177/0013164415623820.

Baron, I. S., Weiss, B. A., Baker, R., Ahronovich, M. Litman, F., & Baveja, R. (2016). Neuropsychological outcomes in extremely preterm infants exposed to low oxygen targets: A retrospective study. Journal of International Neuropsychological Society. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1017/S1355617715001186.

Weiss, B. A., & Harring, J. R. (2015). Assessing spurious interaction effects in structural equation modeling: A cautionary note. Educational and Psychological Measurement.

Rider, N., Weiss, B. A., McDermott, A., Hopp, C., & Baron, I. S. (2015). Test of visuospatial construction: validity evidence in extremely low birth weight and late preterm children at early school age. Child Neuropsychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/09297049.2015.1026889

Baron, I. S., Hopp, C., & Weiss, B. A. (2014). Developmental normative data for the Baron-Hopkins board test of spatial location memory. Child Neuropsychology, 21, 732 – 750.

Chen, J., Choi, J., Weiss, B. A., & Stapleton, L. (2014). An empirical evaluation of mediation effect analysis using the Markov chain Monte Carlo and alternative estimation methods. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 21, 253 – 262.

Beveridge, S., Karpen, S., Hadjiyane, M. C., Weiss, B. A., Liu, X. (2014). A mixed methods case study of an online forensic rehabilitation counseling graduate certificate program.

Baron, I. S., Weiss, B. A., Litman, F. R., Ahronovich, M. D., & Baker, R. (2014). Latent mean differences in executive function in at-risk preterm children: The delay-deficit dilemma, Neuropsychology, 28, 541-551.

Baron, I. S., Weiss, B. A., Baker, R., Ahronovich, M. D., & Litman, F. R. (2014). Subtle adverse effects in late preterm birth: A cautionary note. Neuropsychology.

McCann, J., Rider, G. N., Weiss, B. A., Litman. F. R., & Baron, I. S. (2014). The factor structure of the behavior rating inventory of executive function: Parent and teacher differences. Child Neuropsychology: A Journal on Normal and Abnormal Development in Childhood and Adolescence.

Weiss, B. A. (2013). Insignificant statistical significance and other methodological oversights. In I. S. Baron & S. Rey-Casserly (Eds.), Pediatric Neuropsychology: Medical Advances and Lifespan Outcomes.

Berry, K. A., Baron, I. S., Weiss, B. A., Baker, R. B., Ahronovich, M. D., & Litman, F. R. (2013). In vitro fertilization and late preterm preschoolers' neuropsychological outcomes: The PETIT study. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 209, 356. e1-356.

Shi, Q., Steen, S., & Weiss, B. A. (2013). The impact of parental support and perception of school on Hispanic youth’s substance use. The Family Journal.

Harring, J. R., Weiss, B. A., & Hsu, J. C. (2012). A comparison of methods for estimating quadratic effects in nonlinear structural equation models. Psychological Methods, 17, 193-214.

Weiss, B. A. (2010). A Comparison of Methods for Estimating Interactions between Latent Variables in Structural Equation Modeling (Doctoral dissertation). University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

Pastor, D. A., Kaliski, P. K., & Weiss, B. A. (2007). Examining college students’ gains in general education. Research and Practice in Assessment, 1(2), 1-20.

  • March 2024 - Dr. Brandi A. Weiss gave an invited presentation titled, “Measuring Latent Constructs: An Introduction to Scale Development,” for the Master of Engineering Program in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.