This manual was written to provide technical information regarding the General Educational Development (GED®) test as evidence that the GED® test is technically sound. Throughout this manual, documentation is provided regarding the development of the GED® test and data collection activities, as well as evidence of reliability and validity. This…

This article investigates the accuracy of examinee classification into performance categories and the estimation of the theta parameter for several item response theory (IRT) scaling techniques when applied to six administrations of a test. Previous research has investigated only two administrations; however, many testing programs equate tests…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2016 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e.,…

Maintaining comparability of test scores is a major challenge faced by testing programs that have almost continuous administrations. Among the potential problems are scale drift and rapid accumulation of errors. Many standard quality control techniques for testing programs, which can effectively detect and address scale drift for small numbers of…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2015 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e.,…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2014 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e.,…

This manual was written to provide technical information regarding the 2002 Series GED (General Educational Development) Tests. Throughout this manual, documentation is provided regarding the development of the GED Tests, data collection activities, as well as reliability and validity evidence. The purpose of this manual is to provide evidence…

This paper addresses issues of vertical equating for the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) assessments as they relate to school accountability and determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by the recent federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act. The paper first provides a brief…

Describes the concept of "adequate yearly progress" as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act and discusses some of the psychometric issues it raises. Examines scaling as a means to equate tests when assessing educational gains and recommends vertically moderated standards over vertical equating of state assessments. (SLD)

The statistical parallelism of a pair of tests equated by the P-value method was investigated, as well as the relationship between their raw scores and scores transformed by linear equating. Data were obtained from eight sections of the 1980 New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Program; specifically, the reading and mathematics tests for each of grades…

A method for equating test scores between two standardized achievement testing programs was developed. The first test was the Survey of Basic Skills (SBS) published by Science Research Associates. The second was the Tests of Individual Performance (TIP) of the Portland Public Schools in Oregon. Scores reported in Rasch units (RIT) from the TIP…

Test developers continue to struggle with the technical and logistical problems inherent in assessing achievement across different languages. Many testing programs offer separate language versions of a test to evaluate the achievement of examinees in different language groups. However, comparison of individuals who took different language versions…

This paper deals with the problems that arise in performance assessment from the granularity that results from having a small number of tasks or prompts and raters of responses to these tasks or prompts. Two problems are discussed in detail: (1) achieving a satisfactory degree of reliability; and (2) equating or adjusting for differences of…

This digest is designed to provide information to Texas testing coordinators, other educators, and interested citizens about the development procedures and technical attributes of the state-mandated criterion-referenced assessment program. The chapters are: (1) "Background"; (2) "Test Development"; (3) "Test…

Effects of passage and item-scrambling on equipercentile and item-response theory equating were investigated using 2 scrambled versions of the American College Testing Program Assessment for approximately 25,000 examinees. Results indicate that using a base-form conversion table with a scrambled form affects the individual examinee level. (SLD)