The report is the first systematic evaluation of the sentence equivalence item type introduced by the "GRE"® revised General Test. We adopt a validity framework to guide our investigation based on Kane's approach to validation whereby a hierarchy of inferences that should be documented to support score meaning and interpretation is…

In many testing programs it is assumed that the context or position in which an item is administered does not have a differential effect on examinee responses to the item. Violations of this assumption may bias item response theory estimates of item and person parameters. This study examines the potentially biasing effects of item position. A…

Both testlet design and hierarchical latent traits are fairly common in educational and psychological measurements. This study aimed to develop a new class of higher order testlet response models that consider both local item dependence within testlets and a hierarchy of latent traits. Due to high dimensionality, the authors adopted the Bayesian…

"Item models" (LaDuca, Staples, Templeton, & Holzman, 1986) are classes from which it is possible to generate items that are equivalent/isomorphic to other items from the same model (e.g., Bejar, 1996, 2002). They have the potential to produce large numbers of high-quality items at reduced cost. This article introduces data from an…

The feasibility of using item response theory (IRT) as a psychometric model for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude Test was addressed by assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions of item response theory for GRE item types and examinee populations. Items from four forms and four administrations of the GRE Aptitude Test were…

This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an automated system for predicting the acceptability status of candidate reading-comprehension stimuli extracted from a database of journal and magazine articles. The system uses a combination of classification and regression techniques to predict the probability that a given…

Recent assessment research joining cognitive psychology and psychometric theory has introduced a new technology, item generation. In algorithmic item generation, items are systematically created based on specific combinations of features that underlie the processing required to correctly solve a problem. Reading comprehension items have been more…

This study investigated the convergent validity of expert-system scores for four mathematical constructed-response item formats. A five-factor model was proposed comprised of four constructed-response format factors and a Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test quantitative factor. Subjects were drawn from examinees taking a single form of…

"Item models" (LaDuca, Staples, Templeton, & Holzman, 1986) are classes from which it is possible to generate/produce items that are equivalent/isomorphic to other items from the same model (e.g., Bejar, 1996; Bejar, 2002). They have the potential to produce large number of high-quality items at reduced cost. This paper introduces…

We describe the item modeling development and evaluation process as applied to a quantitative assessment with high-stakes outcomes. In addition to expediting the item-creation process, a model-based approach may reduce pretesting costs, if the difficulty and discrimination of model-generated items may be predicted to a predefined level of…

Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic item response model was used to study guessing behavior of low ability examinees on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, Verbal Measure. GRE scoring procedures had recently changed, from a scoring formula which corrected for guessing, to number-right scoring. The three-parameter theory was used…