Reports that a goal and item analysis of eight history and systems of psychology textbooks and their accompanying test item files showed that the majority of the essay test items are too narrow in scope to measure the commonly stated course goals. Presents some integrative and goal-relevant essay questions to rectify this shortcoming. Includes a…

A pilot experiment examined ambiguity in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning by graduate and undergraduate students. The findings revealed that most ESL speakers have greatest difficulty in understanding sentences with derived-structure ambiguity. Underlying-structure ambiguity was the next most difficult to understand, followed by lexical…

Results of a study involving approximately 220 student nurses indicate that the use of negation (e.g., not, except) should be avoided in stems of multiple-choice test items and that the single-response negatively worded item should often be converted to a multiple-response, positively worded item. (SLD)

Gender differences in answers to constructed-response reading items from a state assessment program were studied with four raters rating approximately 500 papers at two grade levels. Results indicate that number of words written and number of unrelated responses show significant gender differences and are related to holistic scores. (SLD)

Gender differences on the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 science tests were explored through statistical analyses and interviews with 25 high school students. Results show the importance of studying the validity of the outcome measure and suggest that conclusions about group differences and correlates of achievement depend on the…

Demonstrates the extent to which item-score data can vary across cultures despite measurements from an instrument in which factorial structure is specified in each group. Scores from the Beck Depression Inventory for 658 Canadian, 1,096 Swedish, and 691 Bulgarian high school students illustrate the differences. Discusses implications for…

Compares two language tests with different item types. The tests are the Dutch Reynell test and the BELL test. Both tests were administered to 64 Dutch kindergarten children with an average age of 70.3 months. Regression analyses indicate that item type does not contribute significantly to prediction of item difficulty, but the linguistic…

This instructional module presented by the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) provides guidelines for teachers and other test developers to help them construct test item banks. Setting up an item bank and using it are described, with a consideration of software that can be used. (SLD)

Effects of self-adapted testing (SAT), in which examinees choose the difficulty of items themselves, on ability estimates, precision, and efficiency, mechanisms of SAT effects, and examinee reactions to SAT are reviewed. SAT, which is less efficient than computer-adapted testing, is more efficient than fixed-item testing. (SLD)

Several existing group-based statistics to detect improbable item score patterns are discussed, along with the cut scores proposed in the literature to classify an item score pattern as aberrant. A simulation study and an empirical study are used to compare the statistics and their use and to investigate the practical use of cut scores. (SLD)

Explores recent developments in the use of computers in language testing in four areas: (1) item banking; (2) computer-assisted language testing; (3) computerized-adaptive language testing; and (4) research on the effectiveness of computers in language testing. Examines educational measurement literature in an attempt to forecast the directions…

Studied the effects of item content and stereotypic threat to gender differences in mathematical problem solving through two experiments, one with 63 seventh and eighth graders and the other with 174 college students. Results suggest that gender-stereotype threat could be a big factor in gender differences in mathematical problem solving. (SLD)

Examiners seeking guidance on multiple-choice and true/false tests are likely to encounter various faulty or questionable ideas. Twelve of these are discussed in detail, having to do mainly with the effects on test reliability of test length, guessing and scoring method (i.e. number-right scoring or negative marking). Some misunderstandings could…

In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) the items are organised in small clusters relating to the same stimulus material (called 'units'). Homogeneity analysis (HA) is used to develop a detailed description of the relationship between all the items in one unit, using the categorical information available in the PISA data. The…

In this paper we have set out to search for similarities and differences between the Nordic countries concerning patterns of competencies defined as scientific literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. The first part focuses on gender differences concerning the two types of competencies, understanding of…