A key consideration when giving any computerized adaptive test (CAT) is how much adaptation is present when the test is used in practice. This study introduces a new framework to measure the amount of adaptation of Rasch-based CATs based on looking at the differences between the selected item locations (Rasch item difficulty parameters) of the…

An IRT-based sequential procedure is developed to monitor items for enhancing test security. The procedure uses a series of statistical hypothesis tests to examine whether the statistical characteristics of each item under inspection have changed significantly during CAT administration. This procedure is compared with a previously developed…

A study was conducted to extend the sequential probability ratio testing (SPRT) procedure with the polytomous model under some practical constraints in computerized classification testing (CCT), such as methods to control item exposure rate, and to study the effects of other variables, including item information algorithms, test difficulties, item…

A common practice in some certification fields (e.g., information technology) is to draw items from an item pool randomly and apply a common passing score, regardless of the items administered. Because these tests are commonly used, it is important to determine how accurate the pass/fail decisions are for such tests and whether fairly small,…

When examinees are allowed to review responses on an adaptive test, can they "cheat" the adaptive algorithm in order to take an easier test and improve their performance? Theoretically, deliberately answering items incorrectly will lower the examinee ability estimate and easy test items will be administered. If review is then allowed,…

Items with the highest discrimination parameter values in a logistic item response theory (IRT) model do not necessarily give maximum information. This paper shows which discrimination parameter values (as a function of the guessing parameter and the distance between person ability and item difficulty) give maximum information for the…

Responses to previously calibrated items administered in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) mode may be used to recalibrate the items. This live-data simulation study investigated the possibility, and limitations, of on-line adaptive recalibration of precalibrated items. Responses to items of a Rasch-based paper-and-pencil licensure examination…

The efficacy of employing subsets of items from a calibrated item pool to estimate the Rasch model person parameters was investigated. Specifically, the degree of invariance of Rasch model ability-parameter estimates was examined across differing collections of simulated items. The ability-parameter estimates were obtained from a simulation of…

TAILOR is a computer program that uses the implied orders concept as the basis for computerized adaptive testing. The basic characteristics of TAILOR, which does not involve pretesting, are reviewed here and two studies of it are reported. One is a Monte Carlo simulation based on the four-parameter Birnbaum model and the other uses a matrix of…