Student responses to the West Virginia Educational Standards Test (WESTEST) 2 Online Writing Assessment are scored by a computer-scoring engine. The scoring method is not widely understood among educators, and there exists a misperception that it is not comparable to hand scoring. To address these issues, the West Virginia Department of Education…

Young learners with severe visual impairments are restricted in many ways, and psychologists and special needs teachers require information about the nature and extent of the possible educationally handicapping effects. This article, written by Michael Tobin, Emeritus Professor of Special Education within the School of Education at the University…

Many postsecondary institutions currently administer standardized tests of general college outcomes; more than a quarter of Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) member institutions do so. Using standardized tests for accountability purposes has been contentious mainly because these tests do not measure every important…

In this study we examined variations of the nonequivalent groups equating design for tests containing both multiple-choice (MC) and constructed-response (CR) items to determine which design was most effective in producing equivalent scores across the two tests to be equated. Using data from a large-scale exam, this study investigated the use of…

In this research investigation of score comparability for language minority students (English language learners [ELLs] and former English language learners), we examined 3 indicators of score comparability (reliability, internal test structure, and differential item functioning) for 4th and 8th grade students who took the NCLB-mandated content…

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the results of the Michigan State University (MSU) unproctored examination to the results of the proctored examination. Both examinations are used to determine whether first time freshmen at MSU are ready for a standard mathematics course or if a remedial course is necessary. In addition to…

Several current international comparative large-scale assessments of educational achievement (ICLSA) make use of "Rasch models", to address functions essential for valid cross-cultural comparisons. From a historical perspective, ICLSA and Georg Rasch's "models for measurement" emerged at about the same time, half a century ago. However, the…

Large data sets from a state reading assessment for third and fifth graders were analyzed to examine differential item functioning (DIF), differential distractor functioning (DDF), and differential omission frequency (DOF) between students with particular categories of disabilities (speech/language impairments, learning disabilities, and emotional…

The use of microworlds (MWs), or complex dynamic systems, in educational testing and personnel selection is hampered by systematic measurement errors because these new and innovative item formats are not adequately controlled for their difficulty. This empirical study introduces a way to operationalize an MW's difficulty and demonstrates the…

This study was designed to compare the performance on selected intelligence tests of a group of Canadian Indian children who had never been to school with the performance of a similar group of children who were attending school regularly. (Author/RK)

Results of the administration in 1971 of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Survey D, Form 1M, to 5,480 fifth grade pupils of Vancouver schools are reported and compared with results obtained with the same test administered in 1968. The test results, which are presented in four tables, indicate that the 1971 students performed slightly better in…

This article (in French with no translation) describes the development and evaluation of tests designed for French-speaking students in Ontario. (MBM)

In the face of the deliberations that have been taking place in England for several years now about the merging of two '16+' examinations, the CSE and GCE Ordinary level, author investigated the French system and the examination, the BEPC, taken at 'intermediate' level by 'average' and 'above average' students. (Author/RK)

Results of a survey test in arithmetic, administered to all 5,118, year 3 pupils of Vancouver schools during the week of May 29-June 2, 1972, are summarized and compared with those of 1969. The two parts of the test--Number Work and Problems--were given in separate sessions. Three tables present the test results data. The data show that the…

The five studies reported on in this article investigated the effects of testing schemes on end-of-course achievement. Variables were frequency of testing, repeated or non-repeated tests, and single-unit or cumulative tests. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)