Maintaining score interchangeability and scale consistency is crucial for any testing programs that administer multiple forms across years. The use of a multiple linking design, which involves equating a new form to multiple old forms and averaging the conversions, has been proposed to control scale drift. However, the use of multiple linking…

We make a distinction between two types of test changes: inevitable deviations from specifications versus planned modifications of specifications. We describe how score equity assessment (SEA) can be used as a tool to assess a critical aspect of construct continuity, the equivalence of scores, whenever planned changes are introduced to testing…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of discrete anchor items versus passage-based anchor items on observed score equating using empirical data.This study compares an "SAT"® critical reading anchor that contains more discrete items proportionally, compared to the total tests to be equated, to another anchor that…

Maintaining score stability is crucial for an ongoing testing program that administers several tests per year over many years. One way to stall the drift of the score scale is to use an equating design with multiple links. In this study, we use the operational and experimental SAT® data collected from 44 administrations to investigate the effect…

This study explores an anchor that is different from the traditional miniature anchor in test score equating. In contrast to a traditional "mini" anchor that has the same spread of item difficulties as the tests to be equated, the studied anchor, referred to as a "midi" anchor (Sinharay & Holland), has a smaller spread of…

Two different types of anchors are investigated in this study: a mini-version anchor and an anchor that has a less spread of difficulty than the tests to be equated. The latter is referred to as a midi anchor. The impact of these two different types of anchors on observed score equating are evaluated and compared with respect to systematic error…

The purpose of this report is to describe the procedure for revising the ReadiStep™ score scale using the field trial data, and to provide technical information about the development of the new ReadiStep scale score. In doing so, this report briefly introduces the three assessments--ReadiStep, PSAT/NMSQT®, and SAT®--in the College Board Pathway…

Views on testing--its purpose and uses and how its data are analyzed--are related to one's perspective on test takers. Test takers can be viewed as learners, examinees, or contestants. I briefly discuss the perspective of test takers as learners. I maintain that much of psychometrics views test takers as examinees. I discuss test takers as a…

This study investigated kernel equating methods by comparing these methods to operational equatings for two tests in the SAT Subject Tests[TM] program. GENASYS (ETS, 2007) was used for all equating methods and scaled score kernel equating results were compared to Tucker, Levine observed score, chained linear, and chained equipercentile equating…

This study examines the stability of the "SAT Reasoning Test"™ score scales from 2005 to 2010. A 2005 old form (OF) was administered along with a 2010 new form (NF). A new conversion for OF was derived through direct equipercentile equating. A comparison of the newly derived and the original OF conversions showed that Critical Reading…

In this study, we investigated whether preequating results agree with equating results that are based on observed operational data (postequating) for a college placement program. Specifically, we examined the degree to which item response theory (IRT) true score preequating results agreed with those from IRT true score postequating and from…

This study examines the stability of the SAT® scale from 1994 to 2001. A 1994 form and a 2001 form were readministered in a 2005 SAT administration, and the 1994 form was equated to the 2001 form. The new conversion was compared to the old conversion. Both the verbal and math sections exhibit a similar degree of scale drift, but in opposite…

This study explores the use of a different type of anchor, a "midi anchor", that has a smaller spread of item difficulties than the tests to be equated, and then contrasts its use with the use of a "mini anchor". The impact of different anchors on observed score equating were evaluated and compared with respect to systematic…

To ensure fairness, it is important to better understand the relationship of language proficiency with the standard procedures of psychometric analysis. This paper examines how equating results are affected by an increase in the proportion of examinees who report that English is not their first language, using the analysis samples for a…

This article presents the author's rejoinder to thinking about linking from issue 8(1). Particularly within the more embracing linking frameworks, e.g., Holland & Dorans (2006) and Holland (2007), there appears to be a major disjunction between (1) classification discourse: the supposed basis for classification, that is, the underlying theory…