We analyzed a pool of items from an admissions test for differential item functioning (DIF) for groups based on age, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or English language status using Mantel-Haenszel and item response theory. DIF items were systematically examined to identify its possible sources by item type, content, and wording. DIF was…

In many testing programs it is assumed that the context or position in which an item is administered does not have a differential effect on examinee responses to the item. Violations of this assumption may bias item response theory estimates of item and person parameters. This study examines the potentially biasing effects of item position. A…

Views on testing--its purpose and uses and how its data are analyzed--are related to one's perspective on test takers. Test takers can be viewed as learners, examinees, or contestants. I briefly discuss the perspective of test takers as learners. I maintain that much of psychometrics views test takers as examinees. I discuss test takers as a…

In this article, the author describes his project to take every standardized exam English majors students take. During the summer and fall semesters of 2012, the author signed up for and took the GRE General Test, the Praxis Content Area Exam (English Language, Literature, and Composition: Content Knowledge), the Senior Major Field Tests in…

Both testlet design and hierarchical latent traits are fairly common in educational and psychological measurements. This study aimed to develop a new class of higher order testlet response models that consider both local item dependence within testlets and a hierarchy of latent traits. Due to high dimensionality, the authors adopted the Bayesian…

Now is an opportune time to consider new ways to ask registrants for the "GRE"® General Test about their race and ethnicity. Growth in the percentage of Americans who identify as multiracial suggests the possibility that a sizeable percentage of registrants would self-report more than one race or ethnicity if given the opportunity to do…

This paper is an overview of some points made at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April of 1987. Gender effects were computed on 82 nationally standardized tests designed to determine precocity among youth. The effect sizes ranged from a magnitude of 0.50 (favoring females) for spelling in grade 12 on the…

The effects of increasing the test time to reduce the speediness of verbal and quantitative experimental sections of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test were investigated. Results show that extension of testing time so as to reduce intergroup differences is not indicated. (Author/GK)

Considers equity issues of highstakes tests conducted by computer, including whether this new form of assessment actually helps level the playing field for students or represents a new cycle of assessment inequality. Two computer tests are assessed: Praxis I: Academic Skills Assessment; and the computerized version of the Graduate Record…

The GRE Board established the Research Program to investigate ways to improve the GRE and its overall operation. Approximately 30 projects have been undertaken and funded by the GRE Board; perhaps a third of these have been completed. These projects can be divided into three groups: (1) those dealing with product or process or marketing…

There are many potential sources of test bias besides that of the particular item content within the test. The other potential sources, designated here as program and utilization must also be encompassed in any thorough and effective program to increase the accuracy of assessment for members of ethnic minorities. As usual, the research findings…

This study evaluated 16 hypotheses concerning possible sources of bias in test items on the Graduate Record Examination General Test. Ten of the hypotheses showed interactions between group membership and the item version indicating a differential effect of the item manipulation on the performance of Black and White examinees. (Author/LMO)

The General Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) includes three operational sections that are separately timed and scored. A "no score" is reported if the examinee answers fewer than 80% of the items or if the examinee does not answer all of the items and leaves the section before time expires. The 80%…

The stability was evaluated of a partial correlation index, comparisons of item characteristic curves, and comparisions of item difficulties in assessing race and sex differences in the performance of verbal items on the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test. All three indexes exhibited consistency in identifying the same items in different…

The psychometric characteristics of the Graduate Record Examinations General Test (GRE-GT) were studied for three handicapped groups. Experimental subjects took the GRE-GT between October 1981 and June 1984; they include: (1) 151 visually-impaired students taking large-type, extended-time administrations; (2) 188 visually-impaired students taking…