Variation in test performance among examinees from different regions or national jurisdictions is often partially attributed to differences in the degree of content correspondence between local school or training program curricula, and the test of interest. This posited relationship between test-curriculum correspondence, or "alignment,"…

The International Test Commission's "Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests" (2010) provide important guidance on developing and evaluating tests for use across languages. These guidelines are widely applauded, but the degree to which they are followed in practice is unknown. The objective of this study was to perform a…

This study employed Bachman and Palmer's (2010) Assessment Use Argument framework to investigate to what extent the use of a second language oral test as an exit test in a Hong Kong university can be justified. It also aimed to help test developers of this oral test identify the most critical areas in the current test design that might need…

This Brief builds on the work of the National Association of State Boards of Education 1997 Study Group on State Assessment Systems by examining one of the state board actions that is most likely to capture the publics attention: setting cut scores on state assessments. This process involves a large measure of human judgment and politics and a…

This study examined initial evidence of changes in fit to a unidimensional model for some language tests at multiple ability levels. Seven data sets were analyzed using the first phase of exploratory factor analysis: principal component eigenvalue extraction. Each data set is analyzed at varying n-sizes: whole group; random subsample; and five…

Item analysis procedures appropriate for domain-referenced classroom testing are described. A conceptual framework within which item statistics can be considered and promising statistics in light of this framework are presented. The sampling fluctuations of the more promising item statistics for sample sizes comparable to the typical classroom…

Several methods of assessing test item bias are described, and the concept of fair use of tests is examined. A test item is biased if individuals of equal ability have different probabilities of attaining the item correct. The following seven general procedures used to examine test items for bias are summarized and discussed: (1) analysis of…

This paper argues that special procedures for constructing assessment tools containing performance assessment tasks are unnecessary and that current test methodology can easily be generalized to complex performance assessment tasks without destroying the desirable characteristics of those tasks. Reasonable statistical requirements for sound…

A scale was developed for measuring the persuasive impact of qualitative and quantitative evaluation reports on decision makers. Using two exploratory (n=192 graduate and undergraduate students) and two confirmatory (n=200 administrators) samples, researchers developed a 28-item Likert-type scale that demonstrated high reliability and validity.…

Inferences that might be made from international educational assessments are discussed, considering issues of popular definition and sampling, assessment exercises, background variables, and statistical analyses. International assessments do tell something about academic achievement, but other approaches may provide more cost-effective information…

Computerized adaptive testing for language teaching and learning takes advantage of two properties of the computer: its number-crunching and multiple-branching capabilities. Adaptive testing has also been called tailored testing because it aims at presenting items that suit the student's competence and that are informative, using an item bank and…

This article describes the construction of instruments for evaluating statistics texts that are grounded in the statistical education and text evaluation literatures. Student, instructor, and expert evaluator instruments were piloted with 36 graduate students and 5 faculty members. Results suggest the usefulness of the developed instruments. (SLD)

Talent identification in most sports occurs through mass participation and the process of natural selection; track and field does not enjoy such widespread participation. This paper reports on a project undertaken for the following purposes: improve the means by which youth with the potential for high level performance can be identified; develop…

Implications of case specificity in two computer-based clinical-simulation examination cases were examined by a classical measurement approach and by a Bayesian analysis of test characteristics. Results from 163 medical students indicate that such examinations cannot be used in high-stakes situations without additional research. (SLD)

This book provides basic skills and knowledge about assessment so that teachers can expand their ability to deal with appraisal problems in their own settings. The first section deals with the basic principles of assessment. The second section concerns creating and applying assessment tools. The third section reviews issues in understanding and…