Despite knowledge of COVID-19's expected impact on the 2020 and 2021 academic school years, policymakers, professional organizations, and test publishers have failed to offer consistent, well-defined or corresponding advice to educational evaluators on how to meet the unique challenges the pandemic has introduced. The directive vacuum that was…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- often called "The Nation's Report Card" -- is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in public and private schools in the United States know and can do in various subjects and has provided policy makers and the public with invaluable…

This article is a review of literature on online formative assessment (OFA). It includes a narrative summary that synthesizes the research on the diverse delivery methods of OFA, as well as the empirical literature regarding the strong psychological benefits and limitations. Online formative assessment can be delivered using many traditional…

The growing presence of computer-based testing has brought with it the capability to routinely capture the time that test takers spend on individual test items. This, in turn, has led to an increased interest in potential applications of response time in measuring intellectual ability and achievement. Goldhammer (this issue) provides a very useful…

The number of public school students who are English learners (ELs) has been increasing steadily in the United States. According to a report by Snyder, de Brey, and Dillow (2016), in the 2014-2015 school year, nearly 4.6 million students enrolled in Kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) in U.S. schools were English learners, representing…

For the last century, the quality of large-scale assessment in the United States has been undermined by narrow educational theory and hindered by limitations in technology. As a result, poor assessment practices have encouraged low-level instructional practices that disparately affect students from the most disadvantaged communities and schools.…

Using technology to deliver instruction in schools has become increasingly popular. Students are required to use online programs, textbooks and apps as part of their classwork and homework. BYOD (bring your own device) school policies have filled classrooms and hallways with students carrying smart phones, laptops and iPads. The increased reliance…

Over the few years, computer based language testing has become prevailing worldwide. The number of institutions the use computers as the main means of delivery has increased dramatically. Many students face each day tests for well-known high-stakes decisions which imply the knowledge and ability to use technology to provide evidence of language…

The study authors examined the effects of using "Diagnostic Assessment Tools" ("DAT") on mathematics and reading outcomes for students in Indiana schools during the 2009-10 academic year. "DAT" consists of interim assessment tools--Wireless Generation's mCLASS for students in grades K-2 and CTB/ McGraw-Hill's Acuity…

Because mobile technologies are overtaking personal computers as the primary tools of Internet access, and cloud-based resources are fundamentally transforming the world's knowledge, new forms of teaching and assessment are required to foster 21st century literacies, including those needed by K-12 teachers. A key feature of mobile technology…

California educates more than six million children in its K-12 public schools. More than half of these children are economically disadvantaged, and almost a quarter are not native English speakers (compared to less than one in ten nationwide). California is working to address these challenges, in part by adopting a new, simplified school finance…

This chapter addresses the psychometric challenges in assessing English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). The first section addresses some general considerations in the assessment of ELLs and SWDs, including the prevalence of ELLs and SWDs in the student population, federal and state legislation that requires the…

This paper highlights the current findings and issues regarding the role of computer-adaptive testing in test anxiety. The computer-adaptive test (CAT) proposed by one of the Common Core consortia brings these issues to the forefront. Research has long indicated that test anxiety impairs student performance. More recent research indicates that…

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…

There have been many studies of the comparability of computer-administered and paper-administered tests. Not surprisingly (given the variety of measurement and statistical sampling issues that can affect any one study) the results of such studies have not always been consistent. Moreover, the quality of computer-based test administration systems…