This paper illustrates that the psychometric properties of scores and scales that are used with mixed-format educational tests can impact the use and interpretation of the scores that are reported to examinees. Psychometric properties that include reliability and conditional standard errors of measurement are considered in this paper. The focus is…

This paper discusses standard error of measurement (SEM), the amount of variation or spread in the measurement errors for a test, and gives information needed to interpret test scores using SEMs. SEMs at various score levels should be used in calculating score bands rather than a single SEM value. (SLD)