In this article, we extend the methodology of the Cut-Score Operating Function that we introduced previously and apply it to a testing scenario with multiple independent components and different testing policies. We derive analytically the overall classification error rate for a test battery under the policy when several retakes are allowed for…

Frustrations with traditional testing led a group of teachers at the English for adults program at Universidad EAFIT (Colombia) to design tests aligned with the institutional teaching philosophy and classroom practices. This article reports on a study of an item-by-item evaluation of a series of English exams for validity and reliability in an…

The Applied Language Centre at University College Dublin offers foreign language modules to students in ten languages at CEFR [Common European Framework of Reference for Languages] levels ranging from A1 to B2. Efforts have been underway in the Centre to standardise the assessment components across languages to ensure parity between module credits…

A sample of 153 male police officers were subjects in a test validation study with two objectives: (1) to compare reliability estimates of a 16-item objective achievement examination scored by the conventional items right formula and by four different procedures; and (2) to obtain comparative concurrent validity coefficients of scores arising from…

The reliabilities yielded by several differential option weighting scoring procedures were compared among themselves as well as against conventional testing. It was found that increases in reliability due to differential option weighting were a function of inter-item correlations. Suggestions for the implementation of differential option weighting…

Item options of shortened forms of the Graduate Record Examination Verbal and Quantitative tests were empirically weighted by two variants of a method originally attributed to Guttman. The first method assigned to each option of an item the mean standard score on the remaining items of all subjects choosing that option. The second procedure…

Drop jumping has previously been used to measure fast stretch shorten cycle (SSC) ability and stretch load tolerance. To the knowledge of these authors a test does not exist to achieve this in the horizontal direction. The purpose of this study therefore was to estimate the reliability of a new unilateral horizontal leg power test to assess these…

A procedure for estimating the degree to which a subtest uniquely contributes to total test performance is presented and discussed. Uniqueness analysis may be appropriately applied to any composite measurement instrument such as a multipart test or a multitest battery to assess the unique contribution of each component to the total test. The…

An unweighted and two weighted measures of children's giving were used in two experiments designed to enhance children's prosocial development. This paper describes the rationale for the construction of the measures, presents data on test-retest reliability and validity as well as treatment outcomes for the two experiments. (Author/LMO)

The present study suggests that although the reliability of an academic aptitude test given under formula-score condition can be increased substantially through empirical option weighting, much of the increase is due to the capitalization of the keying procedure on omitting tendencies which are reliable but not valid. (Author)

It has been shown that Guttman weighting of test options results in marked increases in the internal consistency of a test. However, the effect of this type of weighting on the structure of the test is not known. Hence, the purpose of this study is to compare the factor structure of Guttman-weighted and rights-only-weighted tests and to relate the…

This study examined the construct validity of the "e-rater"® automated essay scoring engine as an alternative to human scoring in the context of TOEFL® essay writing. Analyses were based on a sample of students who repeated the TOEFL within a short time period. Two "e-rater" scores were investigated in this study, the first…

An investigation was conducted to determine the effects of response-category weighting and item weighting on reliability and predictive validity. Response-category weighting refers to scoring in which, for each category (including omit and "not read"), a weight is assigned that is proportional to the mean criterion score of examinees selecting…

Previous research has studied the effects of different methods of item option weighting on the reliability and concurrent and predictive validity of achievement tests. Increases in reliability are generally found, but with mixed results for validity. Several methods of producing option weights, (i.e., Guttman internal and external weights and…