This study aimed at evaluating a PISA-like reading test developed by teachers participating in the teacher training for teaching PISA-like reading. To serve this purpose, an experimental test was administered to 107 students aged 15-16 using a set of text and questions constructed according to the criteria of the PISA Reading test Level 1. Item…

Classroom quality measures, such as the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised (ECERS-R), are widely used in research, practice, and policy. Increasingly, these uses have been for purposes not originally intended, such as contributing to consequential policy decisions. The current study adds to the recent evidence of problems with the…

Few would doubt that ETS researchers have contributed more to the general topic of item response theory (IRT) than individuals from any other institution. In this report, we briefly review most of those contributions, dividing them into sections by decades of publication, beginning with early work by Fred Lord and Bert Green in the 1950s and…

Presents an overview of Rasch measurement models that begins with a conceptualization of continuous experiences often captured as discrete observations. Discusses the mathematical properties of the Rasch family of models that allow the transformation of discrete deterministic counts into continuous probabilistic abstractions. Also discusses six of…

Explores the nature of fit and provides a historical overview of fit indices. Focuses on a family of fit indices based on the Pearsonian chi-square approach to fit to show why it is necessary to use a family of standardized indices to understand the relationship between the data and the model. (Author/SLD)

This paper provides a brief overview of some of the research that has examined the relationship between item response theory (IRT) and nonlinear factor analysis (NFA), and outlines three NLFA models, emphasizing their major strengths and weaknesses for practical applications. The focus is on: (1) R. McDonald's polynomial approximation of a normal…

Examines item-response theory (IRT), which seeks to model the way in which latent psychological constructs manifest themselves in terms of observable item responses. Provides an overview of the most popular IRT models and contrasts them with the techniques used in classical test theory. Results highlight several IRT advantages. (Author/GCP)

Criteria used in the equating process proposed in the literature are reviewed. The discussion begins by examining how equating is defined. The controversy over the best criterion, the utility of some, and whether a criterion is needed at all means that much work needs to be done in this area. (SLD)

Some item response theory (IRT) techniques work in applications even though the usual structural IRT assumptions, and local independence (LI) in particular, do not hold. When the departure from LI is too great, traditional procedures will break down. Although violations of strictly unidimensional, monotone, locally independent latent structure can…

Theoretical issues underlying the development of scales of language proficiency are examined. First, a brief classification of scale types is presented, and problems identified in them and advantages they offer are outlined. Discussion then moves to the issues of describing and measuring language proficiency. In this section, behaviorally-based…