The 2-parameter logistic multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model was employed to model growth for the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). The 3 measurement waves of NELS:88 (base year, first follow-up, and second follow-up) represented 3 dimensions.The inquiry aimed to improve modeling performance growth based on…

This study compares cost, completion times, and percent completion of electronic tablet (n = 244) to paper-based (n = 398) questionnaires administered to participants of scenic raft trips on the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park. We hypothesized e-tablet questionnaires would (1) cost less (2) be completed faster and (3) be completely filled…

In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education there has been increased emphasis on teaching goals that include not only the learning of content knowledge but also the development of scientific reasoning skills. The Lawson classroom test of scientific reasoning (LCTSR) is a popular assessment instrument for scientific reasoning.…

Prior research has established that students often underprepare for midterm examinations yet remain overconfident in their proficiency. Research concerning the testing effect has demonstrated that utilizing testing as a study strategy leads to higher performance and more accurate confidence compared to more common study strategies such as…

This qualitative case study examined the process Northcentral Technical College (NTC), a two-year institution, navigated to design and implement a standardized prior learning assessment (PLA) program. With the projected labor market shortage, PLA is one strategy colleges have been recommended to use to provide the opportunity for students to apply…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if student perceptions of their advisor and the institution they attended were affected by either the developmental or prescriptive approach that their assigned academic advisor used. A group of academic advisors volunteered at the beginning of the study to be trained in the developmental…

Adult online learners represent the largest demographic in higher education. Academic leaders increasingly use non-designer instructors (NDIs) to meet demands. NDIs have little control over course design, part of teaching presence valued by learners. This quantitative, predictive correlational study investigated (1) to what frequency online…

Multistage testing, or MST, was developed as an alternative to computerized adaptive testing (CAT) for applications in which it is preferable to administer a test at the level of item sets (i.e., modules). As with CAT, the simulation technique in MST plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of tests. "MSTGen," a new MST…

This study investigated the constructs underlying second language (L2) word association (WA) with regard to three dimensions of lexical competence--size, organization, and accessibility--and the lexical performance of speech. One-hundred and thirteen Japanese learners of English completed a computer-delivered oral WA task along with three…

Consideration of the influence of English language skills during testing is an understandable requirement for fair and valid cognitive test interpretation. Several professional standards and expert recommendations exist to guide psychologists as they attempt to engage in best practices when assessing English learners (ELs). Nonetheless, relatively…

In the realm of language proficiency assessments, the domain description inference and the extrapolation inference are key components of a validity argument. Biber et al.'s description of the lexicogrammatical features of the spoken and written registers in the T2K-SWAL corpus has served as support for the TOEFL iBT test's domain description and…

The current discussion about assessment in the language teaching context--involving topics such as immigration and citizenship, and university entrance--has brought with it the issue of justice in assessment. Although in Colombia such concerns are not generally discussed, it is important to consider fairness when it comes to classroom assessment.…

Using a lexical decision task, Wolter and Yamashita (2015) showed that collocations that exist only in L1 but not in L2 were not processed faster than collocations that only exist in L2 but not in L1 or a random combination of two words. This result seems to support the age/order of acquisition effects (Carroll & White, 1973) over Jiang's…

Automated essay scoring is a developing technology that can provide efficient scoring of large numbers of written responses. Its use in higher education admissions testing provides an opportunity to collect validity and fairness evidence to support current uses and inform its emergence in other areas such as K-12 large-scale assessment. In this…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a group of states working together to develop a set of assessments that measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers. These high-quality, computer-based K-12 assessments in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA/L)…