Valid inferences on teaching drawn from students' test scores require that tests are sensitive to the instruction students received in class. Accordingly, measures of the test items' instructional sensitivity provide empirical support for validity claims about inferences on instruction. In the present study, we first introduce the concepts of…

Fumiko Samejima is best known for her pioneering work in polytomous response item response theory (IRT), yielding the eponymous model that has been used broadly for more than 30 years. In this interview, Samejima, on the verge of retiring from her faculty position at the University of Tennessee, discusses her life and career. She also describes…