Setting cut scores on (MSTs) is difficult, particularly when the test spans several grade levels, and the selection of items from MST panels must reflect the operational test specifications. In this study, we describe, illustrate, and evaluate three methods for mapping panelists' Angoff ratings into cut scores on the scale underlying an MST. The…

Automatic item generation may supply many items instantly and efficiently to assessment and learning environments. Yet, the evaluation of item quality persists to be a bottleneck for deploying generated items in learning and assessment settings. In this study, we investigated the utility of using large-language models, specifically Llama 3-8B, for…

We address two persistent challenges in large-scale assessments of the Next Generation Science Standards: (a) the validity of score interpretations that target the standards broadly and (b) how to structure claims for assessments of this complex domain. The NGSS pose a particular challenge for specifying claims about students that evidence from…

Technical documentation for educational tests focuses primarily on properties of individual scores at single points in time. Reliability, standard errors of measurement, item parameter estimates, fit statistics, and linking constants are standard technical features that external stakeholders use to evaluate items and individual scale scores.…

Validity evidence based on test content is critical to meaningful interpretation of test scores. Within high-stakes testing and accountability frameworks, content-related validity evidence is typically gathered via alignment studies, with panels of experts providing qualitative judgments on the degree to which test items align with the…

Computer-based educational assessments often include items that involve drag-and-drop responses. There are different ways that drag-and-drop items can be laid out and different choices that test developers can make when designing these items. Currently, these decisions are based on experts' professional judgments and design constraints, rather…

For many years, reading comprehension in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was measured via paper-based assessment (PBA). In the 2015 cycle, computer-based assessment (CBA) was introduced, raising the question of whether central equivalence criteria required for a valid interpretation of the results are fulfilled. As an…

Examinees' thinking processes have become an increasingly important concern in testing. The responses processes aspect is a major component of validity, and contemporary tests increasingly involve specifications about the cognitive complexity of examinees' response processes. Yet, empirical research findings on examinees' cognitive processes are…

Automated text complexity measurement tools (also called readability metrics) have been proposed as a way to help teachers, textbook publishers, and assessment developers select texts that are closely aligned with the new, more demanding text complexity expectations specified in the Common Core State Standards. This article examines a critical…

The main points of Sijtsma and Green and Yang in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice (34, 4) are that reliability, internal consistency, and unidimensionality are distinct and that Cronbach's alpha may be problematic. Neither of these assertions are at odds with Davenport, Davison, Liou, and Love in the same issue. However, many authors…

The rise of computer-based testing has brought with it the capability to measure more aspects of a test event than simply the answers selected or constructed by the test taker. One behavior that has drawn much research interest is the time test takers spend responding to individual multiple-choice items. In particular, very short response…

Testing organization needs large numbers of high-quality items due to the proliferation of alternative test administration methods and modern test designs. But the current demand for items far exceeds the supply. Test items, as they are currently written, evoke a process that is both time-consuming and expensive because each item is written,…

Evidence to support the credibility of standard setting procedures is a critical part of the validity argument for decisions made based on tests that are used for classification. One area in which there has been limited empirical study is the impact of standard setting judge selection on the resulting cut score. One important issue related to…

The goal of this study was to investigate the usefulness of person-fit analysis in validating student score inferences in a cognitive diagnostic assessment. In this study, a two-stage procedure was used to evaluate person fit for a diagnostic test in the domain of statistical hypothesis testing. In the first stage, the person-fit statistic, the…

Cut-scores were set by expert judges on assessments of reading and listening comprehension of English as a foreign language (EFL), using the bookmark standard-setting method to differentiate proficiency levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments contained stratified item samples drawn from extensive item…