This study examined the validity of test accommodation in third-eighth graders using differential item functioning (DIF) and mixture IRT models. Two data sets were used for these analyses. With the first data set (N = 51,591) we examined whether item type (i.e., story, explanation, straightforward) or item features were associated with item…

Scoring rubrics are routinely used to evaluate the quality of writing samples produced for writing performance assessments, with anchor papers chosen to represent score points defined in the rubric. Although the careful selection of anchor papers is associated with best practices for scoring, little research has been conducted on the role of…

The evidence gathered in the present study supports the use of the simultaneous development of test items for different languages. The simultaneous approach used in the present study involved writing an item in one language (e.g., French) and, before moving to the development of a second item, translating the item into the second language (e.g.,…