Issues surrounding accurate assessment of depression in children have received much attention. However, the stability of scores from depression measures has generally been estimated using only classical test score theory, rather than the more powerful generalizability theory. The dependability of scores from the Children's Depression Inventory…

Any systematic approach to the assessment of students' ability implies the use of a model. The more explicit the model is, the more its users know about what they are doing and what the consequences are. The Rasch model is a strong model where measurement is a bonus of the model itself. It is based on four ideas: (1) separation of observable…

The potential of a cognitive model task analysis scheme (CMS) that specifies features of test problems shown by research to affect performance is explored. CMS describes the general skill area and the generic task or problem type. It elaborates features of the problem situation and required responses found by research to influence performance.…

Presents major stages in design and development of criterion referenced tests (CRT) with emphasis on differences between CRT construction and norm-referenced test construction. Discussion covers test interpretation; test theory; preparation for test construction (hierarchical analysis, item type selection, and choosing number of items); test…

Rudman and colleagues (1980) deplored the paucity of descriptive information relative to teachers' test use patterns. The present study addresses the abundant prescriptive, and lack of descriptive information concerning teacher testing. A mailed survey procedure gathered testing practice information from elementary and secondary South Dakota…

A study examined whether Canadian twelfth grade students' papers would rate differently when they were written in different modes and whether there are significant differences between global (modified holistic) scores and rhetorical effectiveness (modified primary trait) scores for the same papers. Fifty students wrote on two transactional topics…

This paper describes the development of a language arts test to assess the consistency of student response patterns and the feasibility of using the test to diagnose students' misconceptions. The studies were part of a project to develop computerized adaptive testing for the language arts with software to diagnose student errors. The…

The use of standardized tests and test data to detect and address differences in cognitive styles is advocated here. To this end, the paper describes the componential theory of intelligence addressed by Sternberg et. al. This theory defines the components of intelligence by function and level of generality, including: (1) metacomponents: higher…

A study compared the performance of 44 applicants seeking admission to an alternative high school (n=19) and nursing assistant program (n=25) at a Wisconsin postsecondary institution on the Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET) test and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. (Applicants who did not achieve a minimum score on ASSET then…

A study investigated the effects of specific guidelines in the taking and rating of tests of summarizing ability. The subjects were 63 native-Hebrew-speaking students enrolled in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses at the Seminar Hakibbutzim Teacher Training College in Tel Aviv (Israel). The subjects were given two sets of instructions…

The cultural bias of the Adult Performance Level Assessment, Form AA-l (APLA) was examined. The potential influence of cultural differences on scores of a major ethnic group, Acadians or Cajuns, was investigated. Assessment items most prone to produce differences in scores were isolated and administered to selected groups. No significant…

Four discrimination indices were compared, using score distributions which were normal, bimodal, and negatively skewed. The score distributions were systematically varied to represent the common circumstances of a military training situation using criterion-referenced mastery tests. Three 20-item tests were administered to 110 simulated subjects.…

The scientific concept of intelligence has been heavily influenced by the technology of measurement. The variables which can be measured have been made the operational definition of intelligence. This approach differs from a deductive approach, in which a theory of cognition in general is used to derive the sorts of measurements that must be taken…

During 1975-1979 this research into the potential of computerized adaptive testing to reduce errors in the measurement of human capabilities used Marine recruits for a live-testing validity comparison of computerized adaptive and conventional tests. The program purposes were to: (1) identify the most useful computer-based adaptive testing…

The research from a four-year project of implied orders tailored testing is summarized. The method of implied orders testing combines the principles of ordinal measurement with the concept of the Guttman scale as an ideal. The basic principle for dichotomous items is that either an item is missed and "dominates" a person or it is answered…