Test input has often been taken as a given in test design practice. Nearly all guides for test designers provide extensive coverage of how to design test items but pay little attention to test input. This paper presents the case that test input plays a crucial role in designing tests of soft skills that have rarely been assessed in existing tests.…

This article discusses a particular type of concordance table and the potential for test score misuse that may result from employing such a table. The concordance that is discussed is typically created between scores on different, nonequatable versions of a test that share the same or close to the same test title. These concordance tables often…

Proposes Vocabulary and Block Design as a two-subtest short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised; the addition of Arithmetic and Picture Arrangement provides a four-subtest short form of the scale. Presents tables giving Full Scale IQs for each of nine age groups for both short forms. (Author)

The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is an internationally administered instrument for assessing nonnative speakers' proficiency in speaking English. The research foundation of the TSE examination described in its manual refers to two sources of variation other than the achievement being measured: interrater reliability and internal consistency.…

As part of the test development process, this technical report is intended to present technical information from the tryout and the pilot stages of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) in Communication Arts: Reading. There are four major parts to this report. Part 1, Evolution of the HSPT in Communication Arts: Reading, introduces the…

This study explores the relative merits of a potentially useful item response theory (IRT) linking design: using a single set of anchor items with fixed common item parameters (FCIP) during the calibration process. An empirical study was conducted to investigate the appropriateness of this linking design using 6 groups of students taking 6 forms…

This report outlines statewide results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) for the 1998-1999 academic year. Also included are statewide data from the administration of the Spanish TAAS and the Algebra I, Biology, English II, and U.S. History end-of-course examinations. To allow a broader view of the assessment program's history,…

Often, educational and psychological measurement instruments must be translated from one language to another when they are administered to different cultural groups. The translation process often necessarily introduces measurement inequivalence. Therefore, an examination may be said to exhibit differential functioning if the test provides a…

This report outlines student performance results from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) for the 1997-1998 school year as well as results from the Spanish TAAS tests and the Biology I and Algebra I end-of-course examinations. Data represent test results for students not in special education. The chapters are: (1) "Executive…

This report presents results from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) tests administered in the spring of 1997 and results from end of course tests in Algebra and Biology. Only a slight decrease in the percentage passing the eighth-grade social studies test marred the otherwise across-the-board rise in percentages meeting minimum…

A subtest of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test dealing with interpretation of diagrams, tables, and maps (DTM) was studied to see whether the position or other characteristics of test items affected the noted gender differences in results. Results with 116,017 students show an effect of position on gender differences. (SLD)

This investigation evaluated performance of university students on visual and nonvisual versions of an achievement test. Two experimental designs assessed the effects and interactions between visual and nonvisual instructional modes, order of drawing test (before or after verbal/visual achievement test), and mode of drawing test (verbal cued or…

A study conducted at the Universities of Haifa and Tel-Aviv to compare two approaches to constructing general multiple choice ability tests--the "classic distractor" test and a new technique, the "fixed-distractor" format test--found a strong similarity between the scores on the two general information ability tests. Seven…

Two types of computerized testing have been defined: (1) computer-based testing, using a computer to administer conventional tests in which all examinees take the same set of items; and (2) adaptive tests, in which items are selected for administration by the computer, based on examinee's previous responses. This paper discusses an option for…

This report describes an experiment in constructed response testing undertaken in conjunction with the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Constructed response questions are those that require students to produce their own response rather than selecting the correct answer from several options. Participants in this experiment…