Item response theory (IRT) models the relationship between the possible scores on a test item against a test taker's attainment of the latent trait that the item is intended to measure. In this study, we compare two models for tests with polytomously scored items: the optimal scoring (OS) model, a nonparametric IRT model based on the principles of…

Online calibration is a key technology for item calibration in computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and has been widely used in various forms of CAT, including unidimensional CAT, multidimensional CAT (MCAT), CAT with polytomously scored items, and cognitive diagnostic CAT. However, as multidimensional and polytomous assessment data become more…

Topic models are mathematical and statistical models used to analyze textual data. The objective of topic models is to gain information about the latent semantic space of a set of related textual data. The semantic space of a set of textual data contains the relationship between documents and words and how they are used. Topic models are becoming…

This study evaluates various scoring methods including number-correct scoring, IRT theta scoring, and hybrid scoring in terms of scale-score stability over time. A simulation study was conducted to examine the relative performance of five scoring methods in terms of preserving the first two moments of scale scores for a population in a chain of…

With advances in technology, researchers and test developers are developing new item types to measure complex skills like problem solving and critical thinking. Analyzing such items is often challenging because of their complicated response patterns, and thus it is important to develop psychometric methods for practitioners and researchers to…

The "D"-scoring method for scoring and equating tests with binary items proposed by Dimitrov offers some of the advantages of item response theory, such as item-level difficulty information and score computation that reflects the item difficulties, while retaining the merits of classical test theory such as the simplicity of number…

This study investigates the effect of several design and administration choices on item exposure and person/item parameter recovery under a multistage test (MST) design. In a simulation study, we examine whether number-correct (NC) or item response theory (IRT) methods are differentially effective at routing students to the correct next stage(s)…

A common approach to increase test security in higher educational high-stakes testing is the use of different test forms with identical items but different item orders. The effects of such varied item orders are relatively well studied, but findings have generally been mixed. When multiple test forms with different item orders are used, we argue…

The comparison of item-level computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and multistage adaptive testing (MST) has been researched extensively (e.g., Kim & Plake, 1993; Luecht et al., 1996; Patsula, 1999; Jodoin, 2003; Hambleton & Xing, 2006; Keng, 2008; Zheng, 2012). Various CAT and MST designs have been investigated and compared under the same…

The purpose of this article is to introduce and review the capability and performance of the Stata item response theory (IRT) package that is available from Stata v.14, 2015. Using a simulated data set and a publicly available item response data set extracted from Programme of International Student Assessment, we review the IRT package from…

In contrast to randomized experiments, the estimation of unbiased treatment effects from observational data requires an analysis that conditions on all confounding covariates. Conditioning on covariates can be done via standard parametric regression techniques or nonparametric matching like propensity score (PS) matching. The regression or…

This dissertation is comprised of three papers that propose and apply psychometric models to deal with complexities and challenges in large-scale assessments, focusing on modeling rater effects and complex learning progressions. In particular, three papers investigate extensions and applications of multilevel and multidimensional item response…

Adaptive testing is advantageous in that it provides more efficient ability estimates with fewer items than linear testing does. Item-driven adaptive pretesting may also offer similar advantages, and verification of such a hypothesis about item calibration was the main objective of this study. A suitability index (SI) was introduced to adaptively…

In the presence of test speededness, the parameter estimates of item response theory models can be poorly estimated due to conditional dependencies among items, particularly for end-of-test items (i.e., speeded items). This article conducted a systematic comparison of five-item calibration procedures--a two-parameter logistic (2PL) model, a…

In administration of individually administered intelligence tests, items are commonly presented in a sequence of increasing difficulty, and test administration is terminated after a predetermined number of incorrect answers. This practice produces stochastically censored data, a form of nonignorable missing data. By manipulating four factors…