P. Maguire, B. Devereux, F. Costello, and A. Cater discussed the Gagne and Shoben (1997) CARIN theory of conceptual combination and, after presenting a sample drawn from the British National Corpus and comparing the two corpora, concluded that the Gagne and Shoben corpus is too small and unrepresentative. They then discussed the mathematical model…

The most familiar models of item response theory are defined at the level of individual subjects. It is possible, however, to define such models for groups of subjects. This paper discusses group-level item response models, their uses, and their relationships to subject-level models. (Author/JKS)

A method based on the Poisson approximation to the binomial distribution and on the relation between the Chi-Squared distribution and the Poisson distribution is suggested for selected use in determining the number of items and passing scores in mastery Lests. (Author/RL)

The suitability of the beta binomial test model for criterion referenced testing was investigated, first by considering whether underlying assumptions are realistic, and second, by examining the robustness of the model. Results suggest that the model may have practical value. (Author/RD)

The present study compared six methods, two of which utilize the content structure of items, to estimate total-test scores using 450 students and 60 items of the 110-item Stanford Mental Arithmetic Test. Three methods yielded fairly good estimates of the total-test score. (Author/RL)

The restrictions on item difficulties that must be met when binomial models are applied to domain-referenced testing are examined. Both a deterministic and a stochastic conception of item responses are discussed with respect to difficulty and Guttman-type items. (Author/BH)

A test theory using only ordinal assumptions is presented, based on the idea that the test items are a sample from a universe of items. The sum across items of the ordinal relations for a pair of persons on the universe items is analogous to a true score. (SLD)

California Assessment Program's application of matrix sampling and item response curve theory to the scaling and reporting of state assessment data is described. It is designed to express educational outcomes in an efficient and interpretable form that is both immediately informative and suited to analysis over extended periods of time.…

In studies involving matrix sampling on items, it is often the case that there are too few responses per individual to use latent trait item response models. A model is formulated wherein individual level variability appears as independent error within the cells of a cross classification of demographic variables. (JKS)

This paper is about the structural equation modelling of quantitative measures that are obtained from a multiple facet design. A facet is simply a set consisting of a finite number of elements. It is assumed that measures are obtained by combining each element of each facet. Methods and traits are two such facets, and a multitrait-multimethod…