The equating of tests is an essential process in high-stakes, large-scale testing conducted over multiple forms or administrations. By adjusting for differences in difficulty and placing scores from different administrations of a test on a common scale, equating allows scores from these different forms and administrations to be directly compared…

Testing within the science classroom is commonly used for both formative and summative assessment purposes to let the student and the instructor gauge progress toward learning goals. Research within cognitive science suggests, however, that testing can also be a learning event. We present summaries of studies that suggest that repeated retrieval…

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the English Placement Test (EPT) is the institutional placement test that is used to place students into appropriate English as a second language (ESL) writing and/or pronunciation service courses. The EPT is used to assess the English ability of newly admitted international undergraduate…

Many scales contain both positively and negatively worded items. Reverse recoding of negatively worded items might not be enough for them to function as positively worded items do. In this study, we commented on the drawbacks of existing approaches to wording effect in mixed-format scales and used bi-factor item response theory (IRT) models to…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined effects of reduced equating sample size and shortened anchor test length on item response theory (IRT)-based linking and equating results. Data from two independent operational forms of a large-scale testing program were used to establish the baseline results for evaluating the results from…

In many testing programs it is assumed that the context or position in which an item is administered does not have a differential effect on examinee responses to the item. Violations of this assumption may bias item response theory estimates of item and person parameters. This study examines the potentially biasing effects of item position. A…

It is critical for countries to ensure that capable secondary school students receive further preparation in advanced mathematics and science, so that they are ready to enter challenging university-level studies that prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This group of students will become the…

In many practical testing situations, alternate test forms from the same testing program are not strictly parallel to each other and instead the test forms exhibit small psychometric differences. This article investigates the potential practical impact that these small psychometric differences can have on expected classification accuracy. Ten…

Operational testing programs employing item response theory (IRT) applications benefit from of the property of item parameter invariance whereby item parameter estimates obtained from one sample can be applied to other samples (when the underlying assumptions are satisfied). In theory, this feature allows for applications such as computer-adaptive…

This study examined the feasibility of administering GED Tests using a computer based testing system with embedded accessibility tools and the impact on test scores and test-taker experience when GED Tests are transitioned from paper to computer. Nineteen test centers across five states successfully installed the computer based testing program,…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

This study, one of a series designed to answer practical questions about performance based assessment, examined the comparability of school scores on short, nonparallel test forms. The data were obtained from mathematics tests with both multiple choice (MC) and performance assessment (PA) items. The tests were administered in a statewide testing…

This report, based on a survey completed by testing directors in states that are members of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), describes the status of online testing in SREB states. Overall, SREB states are paying limited attention to online testing. Only Virginia is moving systematically to implement online testing. By spring 2004, all…

Created a developmental scale for the North Carolina End-of-Grade Mathematics Tests using a subset of identical test forms administered to adjacent grade levels with Thurstone scaling and Item Response Theory methods. Discusses differences in patterns produced. (Author/SLD)

How much do 17-year olds know about U.S. history and literature? The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been gathering information about the educational attainment of American students in a variety of subject areas, but no study had focused solely on students' basic knowledge of American history and their familiarity with major…