In recent years, educators, administrators, policymakers, and measurement experts have called for assessments that support educators in making better instructional decisions. One promising approach to measurement to support instructional decision-making is diagnostic classification models (DCMs). DCMs are flexible psychometric models that…

In recent years, many U.S. states have introduced growth models as part of their educational accountability systems. Although the validity of growth-based accountability models has been evaluated for the general population, the impact of those models for English language learner (ELL) students, a growing segment of the student population, has not…

The Presidential Address at the 1986 National Council on Measurement in Education Annual Meeting argues that measurement specialists have tended to set unrealistic aspirations for the role tests play. The conjunctive decision making model is discussed and the use of data in the conjunctive and compensatory decision making models is examined. (JAZ)