Some statewide testing programs allow students to receive corrective feedback and revise their answers during testing. Despite its pedagogical benefits, the effects of providing revision opportunities remain unknown in the context of alternate assessments. Therefore, this study examined student data from a large-scale alternate assessment that…

We investigated how item formats influence test takers' response tendencies under uncertainty. Adult participants solved content-equivalent math items in three formats: multiple-selection multiple-choice, grid with forced-choice (true-false) options, and grid with non-forced-choice options. Participants showed a greater tendency to commit (rather…

Individual person fit analyses provide important information regarding the validity of test score inferences for an "individual" test taker. In this study, we use data from an undergraduate statistics test (N = 1135) to illustrate a two-step method that researchers and practitioners can use to examine individual person fit. First, person…

Increasing linguistic diversity in classrooms has led researchers to examine the validity and fairness of standardized achievement tests, specifically concerning whether test score interpretations are free of bias and score use is fair for all students. This study examined whether mathematics achievement test items that contain complex language…

Elementary school students often exhibit a variety of conceptions associated with algebraic thinking that their teachers fail to recognize or understand. It is crucial that elementary school teachers possess knowledge of the variety of student conceptions and also have abilities to address varying states of conceptions. Otherwise, students who are…

Angoff-based standard setting is widely used, especially for high-stakes licensure assessments. Nonetheless, some critics have claimed that the judgment task is too cognitively complex for panelists, whereas others have explicitly challenged the consistency in (replicability of) standard-setting outcomes. Evidence of consistency in item judgments…

This study focuses on an instance in which the mean grade-to-grade scale scores on a vertical scale showed evidence of common test items that do not get easier from one grade to the next. The issue was examined as part of a 2-day workshop in which participants were asked to predict the growth on all linking items used in the construction of…

We address valid testing for English language learners (ELLs)--students in the United States who are schooled in English while they are still acquiring English as a second language. Also, we address the need for procedures for systematically developing ELL testing accommodations--changes in tests intended to support ELLs to gain access to the…

Test-based accountability often produces score inflation. Most studies have evaluated inflation by comparing trends on a high-stakes test and a lower stakes audit test. However, Koretz and Beguin (2010) noted weaknesses of audit tests and suggested self-monitoring assessments (SMAs), which incorporate audit items into high-stakes tests. This…

Variation in test performance among examinees from different regions or national jurisdictions is often partially attributed to differences in the degree of content correspondence between local school or training program curricula, and the test of interest. This posited relationship between test-curriculum correspondence, or "alignment,"…

We examined the performance of English language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs on Grade 4 and Grade 5 mathematics content knowledge (CK) and academic language (AL) tests. CK and AL items had different semiotic loads (numbers of different types of semiotic features) and different semiotic structures (relative frequencies of different semiotic…

This study investigated the role of item formats in the performance of 206 nonnative speakers of English on expressive skills (i.e., speaking and writing). Test scores were drawn from the field test of the "Pearson Test of English Academic" for Chinese, French, Hebrew, and Korean native speakers. Four item formats, including…

This study investigated whether scores obtained from the online and paper-and-pencil administrations of the statewide end-of-course English test were equivalent for students with and without disabilities. Score comparability was evaluated by examining equivalence of factor structure (measurement invariance) and differential item and bundle…

In this article, we highlight the need for a precisely defined construct in score-based validation and discuss the contribution of cognitive theories to accurately and comprehensively defining the construct. We propose a framework for integrating cognitively based theoretical and empirical evidence to specify and evaluate the construct. We apply…

The purpose of the present study is to examine the language characteristics of a few states' large-scale assessments of mathematics and science and investigate whether the language demands of the items are associated with the degree of differential item functioning (DIF) for English language learner (ELL) students. A total of 542 items from 11…