A commonly accepted rule for developing equated examinations using the common-items non-equivalent groups (CINEG) design is that items common to the two examinations being equated should be identical. The CINEG design calls for two groups of examinees to respond to a set of common items that is included in two examinations. In practice, this rule…

Appropriateness measurement is a general approach to the problem caused by multiple choice tests failing to measure accurately the ability of atypical examinees. The conceptual framework of appropriateness measurement is presented, and several statistical indices of the appropriateness of a multiple choice test for an examinee are noted. A series…

Reports on experience with objective FL tests (multiple choice, fill-in and completion). Native speakers of the mother tongue and the target language cooperate in developing the tests, developed at the Herder Institute, which are used for placement by ability and as the starting point for teaching exercises. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Commercial achievement tests often provide limited instructional guidance and seldom provide feedback specific to any given classroom. The most instructionally relevant achievement tests are those developed by an individual teacher for use with a particular class. This digest describes the steps of test construction and presents suggestions for…

Calibration, defined as the accuracy with which students can predict their own performance, was studied. The role of feedback in the development of calibration was examined, and questions of whether better calibration was associated with better performance and more efficient study were explored. Subjects were 136 college students in an…

The purposes of the present study were to ascertain whether or not two particular formatting characteristics influenced seventh grade student performance on math tests. One research question focused on the effects of decimal positioning in multiple choice options for computational items. In a second question, labeling format was compared with…

Procedures for developing and validating a modified cloze test are described. The multiple-choice cloze procedure was developed to aid in the rapid placement of college freshmen who are students of English as a second language. It was designed to overcome some problems in the original cloze test, to reduce anxiety, and to be machine scored. The…

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…

The Diagnostic Testing System (DX) is an integral system for developing and administering tests. The system can be utilized for testing in any subject matter, or any number of subject matters, at any level on scholastic or cognitive continuums. The major purpose of DX is to provide diagnostic data about the level at which a given student (or group…

In the answer-until-correct mode of multiple-choice testing, respondents are directed to continue choosing among the alternatives to each item until they find the correct response. There is no consensus as to how to convert the resulting pattern of responses into a measure because of two conflicting models of item response behavior. The first…

As one in a series of test item collections developed by the Assessment and Evaluation Unit of the Directorate of Studies, items are made available to teachers for the construction of unit tests or term examinations or as a basis for class discussion. Each collection was reviewed for content validity and reliability. The test items meet syllabus…

This study tests the hypothesis of a gender difference in academic achievement as a function of measurement method. The biasing influence of measurement method on achievement has been recognized. Campbell and Fiske (1959) suggested that a considerable proportion of the variation in test scores may be due to features of the form of test (method)…

The project described in this report was designed to provide competitive events for students of distributive education which correlate with competency-based curriculum. The products which were developed by the project are 109 written competency-based events in eleven occupational areas and 115 performance events in twelve occupational areas.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the stability of measures of student writing performance across types of discourse (genres) and across response modes (selected response: multiple choice; constructed response: single paragraph, and full length essay). The study addressed the following: (1) the relationship/stability of writing scores…

Connecticut's experience with four different standard-setting methods regarding multiple choice proficiency tests is described. The methods include Angoff, Nedelsky, Borderline Group, and Contrasting Groups Methods. All Connecticut ninth graders were administered proficiency tests in reading, language arts, and mathematics. As soon as final test…