This commentary focuses on one of the positive impacts of COVID-19, which was to tie societal inequity to testing in a manner that could motivate the reimagining of our field. That reimagining needs to account for our nation's dramatically changing demographics so that assessment generally, and standardized testing specifically, better fit the…

The current study examines the perceived fairness of an educational assessment process, considering the influence of positive and negative affect. The first objective was to determine if a person's evaluation of fairness fluctuates depending on the incidental affect (pre-evaluation affect). The second objective was studying the connection between…

Empirical studies in the economics of education, the measurement of skill gaps, the impacts of interventions on skill formation, and the value-added literature rely on psychometrically validated test scores. Test scores are taken as measures of an invariant scale of human capital compared over time and people. We examine if conventional skill…

This dissertation provides a start-to-finish description of development, administration, and validation for an online middle-school physics test using a DCM framework with response-time. The first paper illustrated the process of implementing DCM with a careful selection of the content domain and a simulation approach for a Q-matrix construction.…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous condition associated with differences in functional neural connectivity relative to neurotypical (NT) peers. Language-based functional connectivity represents an ideal context in which to characterize connectivity because language is heterogeneous and linked to core features in ASD, and NT language…

Value-Added Models (VAMs) are both common and controversial in education policy and accountability research. While the sensitivity of VAMs to model specification and covariate selection is well documented, the extent to which test scoring methods (e.g., mean scores vs. IRT-based scores) may affect VA estimates is less studied. We examine the…

Some college students may be disengaged when completing assessments for institutional accountability and improvement. If disengagement is not identified and the resulting data are removed, the validity of score interpretations suffers. Using data gathered from students who completed non-consequential assessments for institutional accountability,…

Despite the availability of access arrangements for tests and exams for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, many autistic children and young people have low academic achievements. There is also a lack of consensus on what their educational priorities should be and a failure to link their school programmes to longer-term…

Despite the increasing implementation of formative assessment in medical education, its' effect on learning behaviour remains questionable. This effect may depend on how students value formative, and summative assessments differently. Informed by Expectancy Value Theory, we compared test preparation, feedback use, and test-taking motivation of…

In data collected from virtual learning environments (VLEs), item response theory (IRT) models can be used to guide the ongoing measurement of student ability. However, such applications of IRT rely on unbiased item parameter estimates associated with test items in the VLE. Without formal piloting of the items, one can expect a large amount of…

During the COVID-19 lockdown, schools are closed, exams have been cancelled, and teaching and learning are taking an unprecedented form. In this process, two realities are brought to light. On the one hand, the pandemic highlights the widening gaps in society and the part that the educational system plays in privileging students from advantageous…

The Regulations of the Commissioner of Education provide that an elementary-level science test is to be administered in Grade 4 to serve as a basis for determining students' needs for academic intervention services in science. The New York State Grade 4 Elementary-Level Science Test consists of two required components: a Written Test and a…

Background: Retrieval practice promotes retention of learned information more than restudying the information. However, benefits of multiple-choice testing over restudying in real-world educational contexts and the role of practically relevant moderators such as feedback and learners' ability to retrieve tested content from memory (i.e.,…

This article presents a conceptual framework for trust in standardised assessments. Standardised assessments play an important role in many education systems as they inform decisions about students' future schooling career or entry to the labour market. Also, standardised assessments are often used for teacher performance reviews and school…

We apply a motivational perspective to understand the implications of physicians' longitudinal assessment. We review the literature on situated expectancy-value theory, achievement goals, mindsets, anxiety, and stereotype threat in relation to testing and assessment. This review suggests several motivational benefits of testing as well as some…