Multiple matrix designs are commonly used in large-scale assessments to distribute test items to students. These designs comprise several booklets, each containing a subset of the complete item pool. Besides reducing the test burden of individual students, using various booklets allows aligning the difficulty of the presented items to the assumed…

Measurement error is a common theme in classical measurement models used in testing and assessment. In classical measurement models, the definition of measurement error and the subsequent reliability coefficients differ on the basis of the test administration design. Internal consistency reliability specifies error due primarily to poor item…

Shoemaker's conclusions related to the influence of various data base characteristics (reliability, variability of item difficulty indices, and degree of skewness in the normative distribution) on the standard error of a mean estimated via multiple matrix sampling procedures are examined. (Author/RC)

This note refers to EJ 056 482. (CB)

Internal consistency as one rationale for item selection from the unverse of possible test items is discussed and formulae are presented which relate the maximum internal consistency of a test to the largest eigenvalue of the interitem correlation matrix. A computer program to perform these calculations is presented. (Author/JKS)

The distributional characteristics of Kaiser's Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) were investigated in sample matrices generated from multivariate normal populations of specified correlation levels. Systematic variation of sample size and number of variables revealed the overall MSA to be most influenced by the number of variables. (Author/JKS)

Tests constructed through item-sampling (where several tests are constructed and randomly assigned to testees) were compared to a traditional constant-item procedure for evaluating student and class progress in a community college freshman psychology class. The item-sampling approach did not appear to be superior. (JKS)

Tests constructed through item-sampling (where several tests are constructed and randomly assigned to testees) were compared to a traditional constant-item procedure for evaluating class progress in a community college intermediate algebra class. The item-sampling format appeared to be slightly less valid than the traditional format. (JKS)

Described herein are formulas and computational procedures for estimating the mean and second through fourth central moments of universe scores through multiple matrix sampling. Additionally, procedures are given for approximating the standard error associated with each estimate. All procedures are applicable when items are scored either…

Investigates implications for finite and known item populations for classical test theory, and the alpha coefficient among items in paper-and-pencil testing. (Author/AG)

The effect of stratified sampling of items based on item difficulty and/or interitem correlations on the estimation of test score distribution parameters using multiple matrix sampling was studied. Results indicated that stratification did not consistently improve the stability of parameter estimation. (Author/JKS)