Monte Carlo methods are an accepted methodology in regards to generation critical values for a Maximum test. The same methods are also applicable to the evaluation of the robustness of the new created test. A table of critical values was created, and the robustness of the new maximum test was evaluated for five different distributions. Robustness…

This dissertation study explored the feasibility of using authenticated spoken texts to test L2 Chinese listening comprehension. The spoken texts used in the study were created using an "authenticating" technique, in which scripted spoken Chinese texts were infused with characteristics of real-world, unscripted spoken Chinese. In the…

Assessment is often used to hold schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Assessment instruments are used as tools to guide curriculum choices and lesson plans, from districts to individual students. In any discipline, knowing what students know and what they have learned following a lesson is important on multiple levels. This is…

Standardized testing is a defining feature of contemporary American society. It not only governs how people are channeled through their schooling; it amplifies existing social disparities. Nonetheless, standardized testing endures, namely because it has served as a vital tool for the post-1945 American state. The postwar state prioritized, on the…

Preservation of equity properties was examined using four equating methods--IRT True Score, IRT Observed Score, Frequency Estimation, and Chained Equipercentile--in a mixed-format test under a common-item nonequivalent groups (CINEG) design. Equating of mixed-format tests under a CINEG design can be influenced by factors such as attributes of the…

Subscores, also known as domain scores, diagnostic scores, or trait scores, can help determine test-takers' relative strengths and weaknesses and appropriately focus remediation. However, subscores often have poor psychometric properties, particularly reliability and distinctiveness (Folske, Gessaroli, & Swanson, 1999; Monaghan, 2006;…

Although software testing has been well-studied in computer science, it has received little attention in natural language processing. Nonetheless, a fully developed methodology for glass box evaluation and testing of language processing applications already exists in the field methods of descriptive linguistics. This work lays out a number of…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) calls for 100 percent proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014. The Act was supported overwhelming by both political parties and signified a major overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Using a questionnaire, this study examined teachers' perceptions regarding NCLB and the…

Formative assessment, as a strategy used to improve student learning, encounters several obstacles in its implementation. This study explores changes in teachers' views and practices as they are introduced to formative assessment in a high stakes testing and limited resource environment. The study examines the extent to which teachers use the…

Presenting college students, in a wide variety of content areas, with frequent announced and unannounced quizzes appears to correlate positively with enhanced test performance. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if similar results can be achieved with high school students in a standard economics class. Based on a theoretical…

In this era of increased accountability in education, there is a need for tools to use in assessing the abilities and instructional levels of young children. Computers have been used successfully to assess older children and adults. However, there is a dearth of empirical research to provide evidence that computer-based testing (CBT) is…

ICUE (Interactivity Centered Usability Evaluation) is an enhanced usability testing protocol created by the researcher. ICUE augments the facilitator's role for usability testing, and offers strategies in developing and presenting usability tasks during a testing session. ICUE was designed to address weaknesses found in the usability evaluation of…

The research presented in this manuscript was focused on the development of assessments for engineering design outcomes. The primary goal was to support efforts by the Transferrable Integrated Design Engineering Education (TIDEE) consortium in developing assessment instruments for multidisciplinary engineering capstone courses. Research conducted…

The history of American schooling is replete with the interplay between politics, economics and social behavior. This has never been more evident than in the current environment of high stakes testing on core subjects that largely ignores other important noncognitive outcomes of education. Within this context, the present study built on previous…

This study presented the past, current, and proposed practice of intelligence testing with a unique population, students identified as deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH). As a basis for describing the cognitive ability of Utah's D/HH students and to improve practice guidelines, 61 D/HH students served by Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB)…