Testing in educational system perform a number of functions, the results from a test can be used to make a number of decisions in education. It is therefore well accepted in the education literature that, testing is an important element of education. To effectively utilize the tests in educational policies and quality assurance its validity and…

This study investigates the relationships among factor correlations, inter-item correlations, and the reliability estimates of subscores, providing a guideline with respect to psychometric properties of useful subscores. In addition, it compares subscore estimation methods with respect to reliability and distinctness. The subscore estimation…

Models of modern test theory imply statistical independence among responses, generally referred to as "local independence." One violation of local independence occurs when the response to one item governs the response to a subsequent item. Expanding on a formulation of this kind of violation as a process in the dichotomous Rasch model,…

In 1997, based on the amendments to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all states were faced with a statutory requirement to develop and implement alternate assessments for students with disabilities unable to participate in the statewide large-scale assessment. States were given the challenge of creating, implementing, and…

We report on a concept inventory for special relativity: the development process, data analysis methods, and results from an introductory relativity class. The Relativity Concept Inventory tests understanding of relativistic concepts. An unusual feature is confidence testing for each question. This can provide additional information; for example,…

Purpose of the study: To explore short-form versions of World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-OLD) with acceptable psychometric properties, which was developed for older adults by the WHOQOL research group, containing 24 items initially. Design and Methods: We randomly sampled two-thirds of respondents from the data of WHOQOL-OLD field…

A new measure of similarity between persons applicable in Q-analysis is proposed. It allows assumptions of non-orthogonality between the items, across which the similarity is computed. The similarity measure may also be applied in an R-analysis. (Author/JKS)

It has often been asserted that the reliability of a measure places an upper limit on its validity. This article demonstrates in theory that validity can rise when reliability declines, even when validity evidence is a correlation with an acceptable criterion. Whether empirical examples can actually be found is an open question. (SLD)

Estimation techniques for generating the covariance matrix for two new tests and an existing test without the necessity of any examinee having to take two complete tests is presented. An application of these techniques to linear, observed-score, test equating is presented. (Author/JKS)

This study examined three statistical methods for selecting items for mastery tests: (1) pretest-posttest; (2) latent trait; and (3) agreement statistics. The correlation between the latent trait method and agreement statistics, proposed here as an alternative, was substantial. Results for the pretest-posttest method confirmed its reputed…

One of the important underlying assumptions of all item response theory (IRT) models is that of local independence. This assumption requires that the response to an item on a test not be influenced by the response to any other items. This assumption is often taken for granted, with little or no scrutiny of the response process required to answer…

To assess the effects of correlated abilities on test characteristics, and to explore the effects of correlated abilities on the use of a multidimensional item response theory model which does not explicitly account for such a correlation, two tests were constructed. One had two relatively unidimensional subsets of items, the other had all…

Critics have occasionally asserted that the number of factors in the 16PF tests is too large. This study discusses factor-analytic methodology and reviews more than 50 studies in the field. It concludes that the number of important primaries encapsulated in the series is no fewer than the stated number. (Author/JAZ)

The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it…

Scales constructed under procedures and criteria outlined by the various traditional and latent trait methods were examined as to whether they varied in characteristics related to scale quality. Scales were constructed from a common pool of items analyzed in full form according to Likert and a one-parameter Rasch model for non-dichotomous data.…