Approximately one-third of American freshmen at two-year and four-year colleges require remedial coursework and over 40 percent of employers rate new hires with a high school diploma as "deficient" in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs. Yet, over the past decade, as these students marched through America's public education…

The need for increased exam security, improved test formats, more flexible scheduling, better measurement, and more efficient administrative processes has caused testing agencies to consider converting the administration of their exams from paper-and-pencil to computer-based testing (CBT). Many decisions must be made in order to provide an optimal…

In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the seventh-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…

This study addresses the sample error and linking bias that occur with small and unrepresentative samples in a non-equivalent groups anchor test (NEAT) design. We propose a linking method called the "synthetic function," which is a weighted average of the identity function (the trivial equating function for forms that are known to be…

The purpose of this report is to inform users and other interested parties about the development, content and technical characteristics of the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. It provides information for the 2003 "SOL" cycle that comprises the fall 2003 and spring 2004 administrations. The report is divided into three…

Tests in social studies and integrated science given in Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Dominica were analyzed by the Organization for Co-operation in Overseas Development (OCOD) Comprehensive Teacher Training Program (CTTP) for discrimination, difficulty, and reliability, as well as other characteristics. There were 767 examinees for the…

This manual is presented to assist local districts in complying with the requirements of the Massachusetts Policy on Basic Skills Improvement, whose principal goal is to help students master basic skills prior to high school graduation. The policy requires schools to evaluate student achievement in the basic skills at least once during the early…

The North Carolina End-of-Grade Testing Program is based on the assessment of higher level skills in the context of specific subject-area content. These tests inform students, parents, the community, and educators about the achievement of North Carolina students in grades three through eight in given areas. This report describes the development…

In the spring of 1986, New York City began using the Metropolitan Achievement Test-6 (MAT-6) series to assess achievement in mathematics as part of a continuing end-of-year testing program. During the first two years of the program, appropriate levels of the shelf version of MAT-6 (Forms L and M) were administered to second through eighth graders.…

This compendium is designed to assist vocational educators in selecting appropriate testing instruments to measure the learning outcomes of their programs. It presents by occupational area basic information on more than 150 validated measures and lists more than 1,200 additional entries in the Vocational Education Curriculum Materials (VECM)…

This paper focuses on the questions which arise as test practitioners monitor score scales derived from latent trait theory. Large scale assessment programs are dynamic and constantly challenge the assumptions and limits of latent trait models. Even though testing programs evolve, test scores must remain reliable indicators of progress.…

The materials presented were developed for use in a series of conferences on testing and instruction sponsored by the National Institute of Education, with the United States Office of Education, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, and a network of research and development agencies. They are intended for use by school practitioners and…

This report provides information on test development, test administration, and score interpretation for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The GMAT, first administered in 1954, provides objective measures of an applicant's abilities for use in admissions decisions by graduate management schools. It is currently composed of five…

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…

A procedure which employs a method of item substitution based on item difficulty is recommended for developing parallel criterion referenced test forms. This procedure is currently being used in the Florida functional literacy testing program and the Georgia teacher certification testing program. Reasons for developing parallel test forms involve…