When we administer educational achievement tests, we want to be confident that the resulting scores validly indicate what the test takers know and can do. However, if the test is perceived as low stakes by the test taker, disengaged test taking sometimes occurs, which poses a serious threat to score validity. When computer-based tests are used,…

Computer-based, pop-up glossaries are perhaps the most promising accommodation aimed at mitigating the influence of linguistic structure and cultural bias on the performance of English Learner (EL) students on statewide assessments. To date, there is no established procedure for identifying the words that require a glossary for EL students that is…

This study estimated male-female and Black-White achievement gaps without accounting for low test motivation, then compared those estimates to ones that used several approaches to addressing rapid guessing. Researchers investigated two issues: (1) The differences in rates of rapid guessing across subgroups and (2) How much achievement gap…

This study sought to provide a framework for evaluating machine score-ability of items using a new score-ability rating scale, and to determine the extent to which ratings were predictive of observed automated scoring performance. The study listed and described a set of factors that are thought to influence machine score-ability; these factors…

This study examined the effectiveness and influence on validity of a computer-based pop-up English glossary accommodation for English learners (ELs) in grades 3 and 7. In a randomized controlled trial, we administered pop-up English glossaries with audio to students taking a statewide accountability English language arts (ELA) and mathematics…

A model-testing approach for evaluating the stability of item response theory item parameter estimates (IPEs) in a pretest-posttest design is illustrated. Nineteen items from the Head Start Measures Battery were used. A moderately high degree of stability in the IPEs for 5,510 children assessed on 2 occasions was found. (TJH)