Possible lack of motivation is a perpetual concern when tests have no stakes attached to performance. Specifically, the validity of test score interpretations may be compromised when examinees are unmotivated to exert their best efforts. Motivation filtering, a procedure that filters out apparently unmotivated examinees, was applied to the…

Combinations of five methods of equating test scores and two methods of selecting samples of students for equating were compared for accuracy, using data from the administration of the Scholastic Aptitude Test to more than 115,000 students. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (SLD)