A method for medical screening is adapted to differential item functioning (DIF). Its essential elements are explicit declarations of the level of DIF that is acceptable and of the loss function that quantifies the consequences of the two kinds of inappropriate classification of an item. Instead of a single level and a single function, sets of…

The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) has taken a proactive stance on perceived test inequities of the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam as it relates to people who are prelingually deaf and hard of hearing. This article describes the process developed and implemented by the CRCC to help maximize test equity…

In this article, we present a theory of test translation whose intent is to provide the conceptual foundation for effective, systematic work in the process of test translation and test translation review. According to the theory, translation error is multidimensional; it is not simply the consequence of defective translation but an inevitable fact…

A potential undesirable effect of multistage testing is differential speededness, which happens if some of the test takers run out of time because they receive subtests with items that are more time intensive than others. This article shows how a probabilistic response-time model can be used for estimating differences in time intensities and speed…

For measuring the face validity of a test, Nevo suggested that test takers and nonprofessional users rate items on a five point scale. This article questions the ability of those raters and the credibility of the aggregated judgment as evidence of the validity of the test. (JAZ)

Both the attenuation paradox of traditional test theory and the assumption of local independence in person-item response theory have caused problems in interpretation. This paper demonstrates that the two are related concepts, and, through this demonstration, both are clarified. It is demonstrated that the breakdown of local independence leads to…

Two fundamental problems in mental test theory are to estimate true score and to estimate the amount of error when testing an examinee. In this report, three probability models which characterize a single test item in terms of a population of examinees are described. How these models may be modified to characterize a single examinee in terms of an…

Brief explanations are presented of some of the different methods used to score multiple-choice tests; and some studies of partial information, guessing strategies, and test-taking behaviors are reviewed. Studies are grouped in three categories of effort to improve scoring: (1) those that require extra effort from the examinee to answer…

In a study to determine whether a shift from Formula scoring to Rights scoring can be made without causing a discontinuity in the test scale, the analysis of special administrations of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Chemistry Achievement Test and the variable section of an operational form of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is…

The viewpoint is expressed that adding to test reliability by either selecting a more homogeneous set of items, restricting the range of item difficulty as closely as possible to the most efficient level, or increasing the number of items will not add to test validity and that there is considerable danger that efforts to increase reliability may…

The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it…

These studies in test adequacy focus on two problems: procedures for estimating reliability, and techniques for identifying ineffective distractors. Fourteen papers are presented on recent advances in measuring achievement (a response to Molenaar); "an extension of the Dirichlet-multinomial model that allows true score and guessing to be…

Description of an objective method for assigning weights to questions on examinations includes discussions of classical test theory, knowledge organization, and how task analysis can be used to identify knowledge elements required to solve specific problems, rank them, and assign objective weights to exam questions using a Pareto distribution (7…

This paper deals with test fairness regarding a test consisting of two parts: (1) a "common" section, taken by all students; and (2) a "variable" section, in which some students may answer a different set of questions from other students. For example, a test taken by several thousand students each year contains a common multiple-choice portion and…

A critical review of the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (Gardner) is offered. The reviewer feels that the instrument cannot be recommended in its present form. Further research concerning the manual, and theoretical issues, (particularly test-retest stability) is strongly recommended. (Author/PN)