An index for the dependability of mastery tests is described. Assumptions necessary for the index and the mathematical development of the index are provided. (Author/JKS)

A number of different reliability coefficients have recently been proposed for tests used to differentiate between groups such as masters and nonmasters. One promising index is the proportion of students in a class that are consistently assigned to the same mastery group across two testings. The present paper proposes a single test administration…

This study is an attempt to answer the following research question: can the reliability of a criterion-referenced test be accurately determined according to a multiple classification of the student's performance? Specifically, the study pursues the beta-multinomial model, which postulates the probability distribution of an examinee's degree of…

A number of different definitions and indices of reliability for mastery tests have recently been proposed in an attempt to cope with possible lack of score variability that attenuates traditional coefficients. One promising index that has been suggested is the proportion of students in a group that are consistently assigned to the same mastery…

The evaluation model for mastery testing as proposed by Emrick (1971) represents an empirical approach to determining the most appropriate mastery criterion score that should be established in those testing situations which entail decision making relative to the continued progression or possible recycling of students in a given learning sequence.…

Decision rules for assigning students to treatments based upon aptitudes or criterion scores are discussed. Popular procedures are criticized and a Bayesian approach is recommended. The effect of unreliability of aptitude or criterion scores is also discussed. (JKS)

The problem of determining an optimal passing score for a mastery test is discussed, when the purpose of the test is to predict success on an external criterion. For the case of constant losses for the two possible error types, a method for determining passing scores is derived. (Author/JKS)

A procedure is described for the determination of individual mastery scores when instructional units are sequenced in a linear hierarchy. It can be used when data for the entire sequence have been obtained. The process entails working backwards, from the final test to the first. (Author/JKS)

A computer simulation was undertaken to determine the effects of using Huynh's single-administration estimates of the decision consistency indices for agreement and coefficient kappa, under conditions that violated the beta-binomial assumption. Included in the investigation were two unimodal score distributions that fit the model and two bimodal…

Subkoviak suggested a technique for estimating both group reliability and the reliability associated with assigning a given individual to a mastery or non-mastery category based on a single test administration. Two assumptions underlie this model. First, it is assumed that had successive test administrations occurred, scores for each individual…

Macready and Dayton introduced two probabilistic models for mastery assessment based on an idealistic all-or-none conception of mastery. Alternatively, an application of latent trait theory to mastery testing is proposed (a three parameter logistic model) as a more plausible model for test theory. (Author/CTM)

J. A. Emrick's (1971) model is a latent class model of mastery testing that can be used to estimate the proportion of masters in a given population. A. Hamerle (1980), in a recent paper on this model, has proposed an estimator for the proportion of masters that is claimed to constitute a maximum likelihood approach. It is indicated that Hamerle is…

This study examined the effects of certain item selection methods on the classification accuracy and classification consistency of criterion-referenced instruments. Three item response data sets, representing varying situations of instructional effectiveness, were simulated. Five methods of item selection were then applied to each data set for the…

Formulas are presented for decision reliability and for classification validity for mastery/nonmastery decisions based on criterion referenced tests. Two item parameters are used: the probability of a master answering an item correctly, and the probability of a nonmaster answering an item incorrectly. The theory explores the relationships of…

Three statistical problems related to criterion-referenced testing are investigated: estimation of the likelihood of a false-positive or false-negative decision with a mastery test, estimation of true scores in the Compound Binomial Error Model, and comparison of the examinees to a control. Two methods for estimating the likelihood of…