Test scores that are not perfectly reliable cannot be strictly equated unless they are strictly parallel. This fact implies that tau equivalence can be lost if an equipercentile equating is applied to observed scores that are not strictly parallel. Thirty-six simulated data sets are produced to simulate equating tests with different difficulties…

In mastery testing a linear relationship between an optimal passing score and test length is presented with a new optimization criterion. The usual indifference zone approach, a binomial error model, decision errors, and corrections for guessing are discussed. Related results in sequential testing and the latent class approach are included. (CM)

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…

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…

Current Scoring practices for multiple-choice tests are rooted in early Associationist Theory and are based on a two-step procedure: (1) right answers counted as ones and wrong answers are zeros, and (2) number of right answers form a total-correct score. The author contends that if either step is invalid, the use of the general linear model (GLM)…

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…

Reviews the literature on subgroup norming in testing and examines several types of score-adjustment methods. The authors discuss social and policy perspectives as well as the scientific and theoretical underpinnings of score adjustment. (GLR)

A procedure is demonstrated for constructing tables showing, for each score on a commercial reading achievement test, the percentage of real-world materials that the testee is likely to comprehend with at least a criterion level of proficiency, the percentages of students in a local or national sample who can competently comprehend a given…