Naomi Gafni, director of Research and Development, National Institute for Testing and Evaluation, Jerusalem, Israel, has devoted a substantial part of her career to the development of admissions tests and other educational tests and to the investigation of their validity. As such she is keenly aware of the complexities involved in this process.…

There has long been the suspicion amongst staff in Art & Design that the ratings given to their subject disciplines in the UK's National Student Survey are adversely affected by a combination of circumstances--a "perfect storm". The "perfect storm" proposition is tested by comparing ratings for Art & Design with those…

Psychometric practice does not always converge with the advances of psychometric theory. In order to investigate this gap, the authors focus on the 10 most used psychological tests in Europe, as identified by recent surveys. The article analyzes test manuals published in 6 different European countries for these 10 most used tests. A total of 32…

Newton's article (2010) makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it is transatlantic, bringing together literatures that have been dealing with similar problems, using sometimes different methods and certainly with distinctive educational, cultural perspectives. He points out that neither of these literatures has all of the…

Discusses classical test theory, including test construction, administration, and use. Covers basic statistical concepts in measurement, reliability, and validity; principles of sound test construction and item analysis; test administration and scoring; procedures for transforming raw test data into scaled scores; and future prospects in test…

Presents a unified concept of test validity that integrates both the scientific and ethical considerations of test interpretation and use. Argues that the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of score-based inferences are inseparable, and that this integration is based on construct validity. (FMW)

The authors describe the significant contributions of Robert Ebel to educational measurement theory and its applications. A biographical sketch details Ebel's roots and professional resume. His influence on classroom assessment views and procedures are explored. Classic publications associated with validity, reliability, and score interpretation…

Traces student comprehension in beginning economics course examinations in the United Kingdom from 1969 to 1973. Demonstrates that males performed better on multiple-choice tests, females performed better on essay examinations, and that female learning rates were lower than male learning rates. Reviews the influence of precollege courses. Includes…

In an attempt to restore the symmetry and balance between the study of person and item variation, this paper presents a novel methodology construct specification equations, which allows one to ascertain from the lawful behavior of items what an instrument is measuring. (Author/PN)

In conjunction with testing mandates, some states have developed new measures intended to reflect changes in thinking about reading. Discusses, in dialogue form, whether these new measures support educational improvement or limit them. (BJV)

Investigates the general factor and uniqueness characteristics of the individual tests of the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Ability-Revised (WJTCA-R). Only 2 of the 19 WJTCA-R tests examined had low general factor loadings, while 2 had low uniqueness. All other tests had medium or high uniqueness. Discusses implications for clinical…

Notes that significantly different results frequently exist between tests that purport to measure the same skill when the same child is tested on both instruments. Considers discrepancies related to examinee, examiner, examinee-examiner interactions, environment, and psychometric characteristics of the tests employed. Cites 10 major psychometric…

After employees of private firms completed several rapid reading classes and achieved remarkable gains on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, the question was raised as to whether the increases in scores were due to the increased number of items attempted on the posttest. A preliminary analysis indicated that students attempted an average of 14.6 and…

An expanded framework for validating tests is needed to include the perspectives of teachers and students as well as of test makers and scientists. The development of educational assessments must take place within an understanding of how tests are used in context. (SLD)

Reviews recent theoretical, methodological, and analytical developments in language testing, focusing on more refined models of language ability, reliability and validity, performance testing, innovative test formats, new applications of Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory to test performance. An annotated bibliography discusses seven…