During the transition period between the use of exclusively old SAT® scores and the use of exclusively new SAT scores, college admission offices will be receiving both types of scores from students. Making an admission decision based on new SAT scores can be challenging at first because institutions have methods, procedures, and models based on…

The major purpose of this study is to examine the quality of ratings assigned to CR (constructed-response) questions in large-scale assessments from the perspective of Rasch Measurement Theory. Rasch Measurement Theory provides a framework for the examination of rating scale category structure that can yield useful information for interpreting the…

In almost all high-stakes testing programs, test equating is necessary to ensure that test scores across multiple test administrations are equivalent and can be used interchangeably. Test equating becomes even more challenging in mixed-format tests, such as Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Exams, that contain both multiple-choice and constructed…

The Many-Facet Rasch (MFR) Model is traditionally used to evaluate the quality of ratings on constructed response assessments; however, it can also be used to evaluate the quality of judgments from panel-based standard setting procedures. The current study illustrates the use of the MFR Model by examining the quality of ratings obtained from a…

In recent decades, there has been an increasing emphasis placed on college graduation rates and reducing attrition due to the social and economic benefits, at both the individual and national levels, proposed to accrue from a more highly educated population (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). In the United States in particular, there is a concern…

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the use of explanatory models based on Rasch measurement theory to detect systematic relationships between student and item characteristics and achievement differences using differential item functioning (DIF), differential group functioning (DGF), and differential person functioning (DPF) techniques. The…

Looking beyond the right or wrong answer is imperative to the development of effective educational environments conducive to Pre-AP work in math. This presentation explores a system of evaluation in math that provides a personalized, student-reflective model correlated to consortia-based assessment. Using examples of students' work that includes…

Developing a cognitive model of task performance is an important and often overlooked phase in assessment design; failing to establish such a model can threaten the validity of the inferences made from the scores produced by an assessment (e.g., Leighton, 2004). Conducting think aloud interviews (TAIs), where students think aloud while completing…

On 9/13/12, the Workshop on Developing Assessments to Meet the Goals of the 2012 Framework for K-12 Science Education was held at the National Academies of Science. The workshop was organized and led by the NRC Committee on Developing Assessments of Science Proficiency in K-12 (co-chaired by James Pellegrino and Mark Wilson) and targeted to state…

[Slides] presented at the Annual Meeting of National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in San Diego, CA in April 2009. This presentation describes how the vehicles for gathering student evidence--task models and test specifications--are developed.

The purpose of this literature review is to identify the most effective instructional principles for English language learners (ELLs) as documented by prominent researchers in the field and existing research reviews. This report is intended as a high-level synthesis of existing reviews of the literature rather than a comprehensive search and…

There is much debate on the merits and pitfalls of standardized tests for college admission, with questions regarding the format (multiple-choice versus constructed response), cognitive complexity, and content of these assessments (achievement versus aptitude) at the forefront of the discussion. This study addressed these questions by…

Presented at the national conference for AERA (American Educational Research Association) in April 2009. The large variability of SAT taker population across states makes state-by-state comparisons of the SAT scores challenging. Using a mixture modeling approach, therefore, the current study presents a method of identifying subpopulations in terms…

[Slides] presented at the annual conference of the National Council of Supervisors of Math.

The purpose of the study is to present research focused on validating the four algebra cognitive models in Gierl, Wang, et al., using student response data collected with protocol analysis methods to evaluate the knowledge structures and processing skills used by a sample of SAT test takers.