Test items undergo multiple iterations of review before states and vendors deem them acceptable to be placed in a live statewide assessment. This article reviews three approaches that can add validity evidence to states' item review processes. The first process is a structured sensitivity review process that focuses on universal design…

An adaptive test can usually match or exceed the measurement precision of conventional tests several times its length. This increased efficiency is not without costs, however, as the models underlying adaptive testing make strong assumptions about examinees and items. Most troublesome is the assumption that item pools are unidimensional. Truly…

This article discusses practical and theoretical problems related to the measurement of formal operations. The first section of the article discusses problems in measuring formal operations using the clinical interview method. These problems include the lack of both a standardized interview and a uniform scoring procedure. Section two discusses…

Computer-based test interpretation (CBTI) is discussed in terms of its potential dangers to the public interest, problems with professional review of CBTI systems, and needed policies for these systems. Several problems with CBTI systems are outlined: (1) they may be nicely packaged, but it is difficult to establish their value; (2) they do not…

The author stands with others writers who would drastically revamp testing programs or eliminate tests completely for Black students on grounds of cultural discrimination. (BY)

Recommends moratorium on testing minority group members with existing standardized measuring instruments, a reassessment of the validity of standardized tests and an appraisal of testing practices with minority groups whose cultural backgrounds vary significantly from that of the middle class white norm. (Author)

States that the correlation between social desirability (SD) and hopelessness is open to several interpretations, but, in the absence of further data, concern for false-negative rates dictates caution in interpreting hopelessness scores when assessing suicidal behavior. Presents data on the relationship of SD, hopelessness, and prediction of…

Samples of entering first-grade students were used to examine the predictive validity of the group administered Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) and the individually administered Meeting Street School Screening Test (MSSST). The advantage of the latter was found to possibly outweigh the advantage of efficiency in group administration. (Author/GK)

Two reading comprehension tests were made up based on two different texts thought to be of equal difficulty. An analysis of the texts and test items was performed after students taking one of the tests scored considerably higher than the other students, and it was determined that one text was in fact more difficult. (CFM)

This article invokes a literal image of test givers as measurement devices and explores the psychometric properties of these test administrator instruments. Concurrent and content validation and test-retest and parallel-forms validity are explored. (SLD)

Although instructional methods are moving in ever greater number to a multimedia base, testing is not. What principles should be considered in correcting this misalignment?

The primary purpose of this study was to design and validate a measure of teacher knowledge of Universal Design for Assessment (TK-UDA). Guided by a validity framework, a number of inferences, assumptions, and evidences supported this investigation. By addressing a series of research questions, evidence was garnered for the use of the measure to…

Objectives: African American urban adolescents are one of the fastest growing groups of children affected by their mother's HIV status. These children experience HIV stigma by association with their HIV-positive mothers. Stigma may contribute to adverse outcomes for these teens. Methods: The authors describe a multistage process of scale…

A conventional verbal ability test and a Bayesian adaptive verbal ability test were compared using a variety of psychometric criteria. Tests were administered to 550 Marine recruits, half of whom received two 30-item alternate forms of a conventional test and half of whom received two 30-item alternate forms of a Bayesian adaptive test. Both types…