The testlet, a bundle of test items, alleviates some problems associated with computerized adaptive testing: context effects, lack of robustness, and item difficulty ordering. While testlets may be linear or hierarchical, the most useful ones are four-level hierarchical units, containing 15 items and partitioning examinees into 16 classes. (GDC)

TAILOR, a computer program which implements an approach to tailored testing, was examined by Monte Carlo methods. The evaluation showed the procedure to be highly reliable and capable of reducing the required number of tests items by about one half. (Author/JKS)

As adaptive testing moves toward operational implementation in large scale testing programs, where it is important that adaptive tests be as parallel as possible to existing linear tests, a number of practical issues arise. This paper concerns three such issues. First, optimum item pool size is difficult to determine in advance of pool…

In computerized adaptive testing (CAT), new or experimental items are frequently administered alongside operational tests to gather the pretest data needed to replenish and replace item pools. The two basic strategies used to combine pretest and operational items are embedding and appending. Variable-length CATs are preferred because of the…

Tailored testing provides the same information as group-administered standardized tests, but can do so using fewer items because the items administered are selected for the ability of the individual student. Thus, tailored testing offers several advantages over traditional methods. Because individual tailored tests are not timed, anxiety is…

Computer adaptive testing systems are feasible for certification and licensure testing. This is in part due to the availability of extensive yet inexpensive computers. Modern item response theory, combined with computerized adaptive testing, yields a powerful new method of testing which provides greater accuracy and efficiency and less boredom for…

During a three-year project (1977-1980) on computerized adaptive achievement testing, item characteristic curve theory (ICC) and adaptive testing strategies designed almost exclusively for ability testing were applied to achievement testing. Adaptive techniques substantially reduced test length without reducing quality, when applied to three…