A tailored testing model employing the beta distribution, whose mean equals the difficulty of an item and whose variance is approximately equal to the sampling variance of the item difficulty, and employing conditional item difficulties, is proposed. The model provides a procedure by which a minimum number of items of a test, consisting of a set…

The initial development of a testlet-based algebra test was previously reported (Wainer and Lewis, 1990). This account provides the details of this excursion into the use of hierarchical testlets and validity-based scoring. A pretest of two 15-item hierarchical testlets was carried out in which examinees' performance on a 4-item subset of each…

This study empirically investigated the validity and utility of the stratified adaptive computerized testing model (stradaptive]developed by Weiss (1973). The model presents a tailored testing strategy based on Binet IQ measurement theory and Lord's (1972) modern test theory. Nationally normed School and College Ability Test Verbal analogy items…

The measurement precision, efficiency, and validity of an adaptive test and four conventional listening tests designed to assess musical ability were compared. The conventional tests were the Seashore Tonal Memory Test and three tests (peaked, rectangular, and maximum discrimination) constructed from items in the 278-item adaptive test pool. The…

This paper is the final report of a multi-year project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1987 through 1990. The main objectives of the research summarized were to: investigate the non-parametric approach to the estimation of the operating characteristics of discrete item responses; revise and strengthen the package computer…

The feasibility of a self-scoring flexilevel test was investigated in terms of practical effectiveness and criterion related validity. The test was administered to over 2,000 students studying secondary school mathematics in Thailand. The study was conducted, and the test administered, in two phases: test development and evaluation. The test was…

A computerized adaptive testing model was assessed in a technical training system. The model, a modification of Lord's flexilevel paradigm, consisted of: the sequencing of test items in a difficulty hierarchy, adaptive entry of students into the test at a difficulty level appropriate to their predicted score, and systematic movement of students…

Conventional mastery tests designed to make optimal mastery classifications were compared with fixed-length and variable-length adaptive mastery tests. Comparisons between the testing procedures were made across five content areas in an introductory biology course from tests administered to volunteers. The criterion was the student's standing in…

A computerized adaptive testing model was applied to a hierarchically arranged series of subtests within the instructional context of a technical education system. The model was a modification of Lord's flexilevel paradigm; however, it did not allow for individualized entry. Two achievement tests, each divided into five hierarchically related…

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, degree of item bias, and testing strategy. Computer simulation was used in the administration of either a conventional or Bayesian adaptive ability test to a…

Two types of computer-administered unit quizzes in a systematic pathology course for second-year medical students were compared. Quizzes composed of questions selected on the basis of a student's ability had higher correlations with the final examination than did quizzes composed of questions randomly selected from topic areas. (Author/JAZ)

Evaluating the comparability of a test administered in different languages is a difficult, if not impossible, task. Comparisons are problematic because observed differences in test performance between groups who take different language versions of a test could be due to a difference in difficulty between the tests, to cultural differences in test…

The success of objectives-based programs depends to a considerable extent on how effectively students and teachers assess mastery of objectives and make decisions for future instruction. While educators disagree on the usefulness of criterion-referenced tests the position taken in this monograph is that criterion-referenced tests are useful, and…

Computerized-adaptive (CAT) and self-adapted (SAT) music listening tests were compared for efficiency, reliability, validity, and motivational benefits with 53 junior high school students. Results demonstrate trade-offs, with greater potential motivational benefits for SAT and greater efficiency for CAT. SAT elicited more favorable responses from…

Methods of computerized adaptive testing using conventional scoring methods in order to develop a computerized placement test for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were studied. As a consequence of simulation studies during the first phase of the study, the multilevel testing paradigm was adopted to produce three test levels…