Teachers need ways to efficiently assess students' cognitive understanding. One promising approach involves easily adapted and administered item types that yield quantitative scores that can be interpreted in terms of whether or not students likely possess key understandings. This study illustrates an approach to analyzing response process…

Despite the call for an argument-based approach to validity over 25 years ago, few examples exist in the published literature. One possible explanation for this outcome is that the complexity of the argument-based approach makes implementation difficult. To counter this claim, we propose that the Assessment Triangle can serve as the overarching…

Fully articulating validation arguments in the context of classroom assessment requires connecting evidence from multiple sources and addressing multiple types of validity in a coherent chain of reasoning. This type of validation argument is particularly complex for assessments that function in close proximity to instruction, address the fine…

This study explores measurement of a construct called knowledge integration in science using multiple-choice and explanation items. We use construct and instructional validity evidence to examine the role multiple-choice and explanation items plays in measuring students' knowledge integration ability. For construct validity, we analyze item…

English language learners (ELLs) and their teachers, schools, and communities face increasingly high-stakes consequences due to test score gaps between ELLs and non-ELLs. It is essential that the field of educational assessment continue to investigate the meaning of these test score gaps. This article discusses the findings of an exploratory study…

The "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" indicate that test instructions, and by extension item objectives, presented to examinees should be sufficiently clear and detailed to help ensure that they respond as developers intend them to respond (Standard 3.20; AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999). The present study investigates…

Many innovative item formats have been proposed over the past decade, but little empirical research has been conducted on their measurement properties. This study examines the reliability, efficiency, and construct validity of two innovative item formats--the figural response (FR) and constructed response (CR) formats used in a K-12 computerized…

Glossary and reading aloud test items are commonly allowed in many states' accommodation policies for English language learner (ELL) students for large-scale mathematics assessments. However, little research is available regarding the effects of these accommodations on ELL students' performance. Further, no research exists that examines how…

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…