Reports on the first phases of an American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages project to develop a computerized adaptive test of reading proficiency. The theoretical multidimensionality of the construct is clarified, and its implications for test development, item calibration, and validation procedures are discussed. (Author/SED)

Item banking offers psychometric efficiency and user flexibility when compared with standardized testing. This article discusses the theories, procedures, and potential of item banks for improving educational measurement. (BS)

This paper discusses six challenges relevant to Web-based testing. Some of these challenges are not specific to Web-based testing, but generalize to all computer-based testing. The challenges are: (1) security and using test centers for Web-based testing; (2) measuring complex skills and problem-solving tasks on the Web; (3) integrating modern…

This study investigated specific conditions under which out-of-scale information improves measurement precision and the factors that influence the degree of reliability gains and the amount of bias induced in the reported scores when out-of-scale information is used. In-scale information is information that an item provides for a composite trait…

Large-scale testing programs are generally based on the assumptions that the test-takers experience standard conditions for taking the test and that everyone will do his or her own work without having prior knowledge of specific questions. These assumptions are not necessarily true. The ways students and educators use to get around standardizing…

Procedures used to establish the comparability of scores derived from the College Board Admissions Testing Program (ATP) computer adaptive Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) prototype and the paper-and-pencil SAT are described in this report. Both the prototype, which is made up of Verbal and Mathematics computer adaptive tests (CATs), and a form of…

The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate five online pretest item calibration/scaling methods in computerized adaptive testing (CAT): (1) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with one-EM cycle (OEM); (2) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with multiple EM cycles (MEM); (3) Stocking's Method A (M. Stocking, 1988); (4)…

Two operational item pools were used to investigate the performance of stratum computerized adaptive tests (CATs) when items were assigned to strata based on empirical estimates of item difficulty or human judgments of item difficulty. Items from the first data set consisted of 54 5-option multiple choice items from a form of the ACT mathematics…

Error indices (bias, standard error of estimation, and root mean square error) obtained on different scales of measurement under different test termination rules in a computerized adaptive test (CAT) context were examined. Four ability estimation methods were studied: (1) maximum likelihood estimation (MLE); (2) weighted likelihood estimation…

Setting standards on educational tests is extremely challenging. The psychometric literature is replete with methods and guidelines for setting standards on educational tests; however, little attention has been paid to the process of setting standards on computerized adaptive tests (CATs). This lack of attention is unfortunate because CATs are…

Two experiments reproduced in a simulated computerized test-taking situation the effect of two of the main determinants in answering an item in a test: the difficulty of the item and the time available to answer it. A model is proposed for the time to respond or abandon an item and for the probability of abandoning it or answering it correctly. In…

Current scoring procedures depend on unrealistic assumptions about subjects' performance on the rod-and-frame test. A procedure is presented which corrects for constant error, is sensitive to response strategy and consistency, and examines qualitative and quantitative aspects of performance and individual differences in laterality bias as defined…

Scoring accuracy and item functioning were studied for an open-ended response type test in which correct answers can take many different surface forms. Results with 1,864 graduate school applicants showed automated scoring to approximate the accuracy of multiple-choice scoring. Items functioned similarly to other item types being considered. (SLD)

Discusses possibilities and limitations of laboratory research methods for testing theories of second language acquisition. Reviews experimental lab studies and focuses on the motivation for conducting these studies, the use of artificial or semiartificial language structures and different design features. (54 references) (Author/CK)

Simulated data were used to investigate the performance of modified versions of the Mantel-Haenszel method of differential item functioning (DIF) analysis in computerized adaptive tests (CAT). Results indicate that CAT-based DIF procedures perform well and support the use of item response theory-based matching variables in DIF analysis. (SLD)