This study investigates the amount of uncertainty added to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) estimates by equating error under both ideal and less than ideal circumstances. Data from past administrations are used to guide simulations of various equating designs and error due to equating is estimated empirically. The design…

The Netherlands' secondary education system is highly differentiated, with four different school types for four scholastic ability levels. Final examinations must accommodate these four levels, and require a test-independent definition of the intended final ability levels as well as a sample-free evaluation of the range of ability levels at which…

Three item response models were evaluated for estimating item parameters and equating test scores. The models, which approximated the traditional three-parameter model, included: (1) the Rasch one-parameter model, operationalized in the BICAL computer program; (2) an approximate three-parameter logistic model based on coarse group data divided…

This study was designed to illustrate the use of the Rasch model procedure to equate the Dade County Compensatory Education Skills Test (DCCEST) to the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) for both mathematics skills and communications skills. The SSAT was a test developed by the Florida State Department of Education to measure students' level of…

A brief overview of item response theory is provided, and a 186-item bibliography of books and articles on the subject dating from 1953 to June 1989 is presented. The overview includes a definition of the theory, a discussion of its development and application, and comparisons with classical test theory. All publications in the bibliography were…

A method is proposed to equate different sets of items administered to different groups of individuals using the Rasch model. A Rasch equating model was formulated to describe one common Rasch scale in different groups with different but overlapping sets of items. The item parameters can then be estimated simultaneously, avoiding different…

This study investigated the nature of field independence by exploring the structure underlying responses to Forms A and B of a multiple-choice measure of field-independence, the Finding Embedded Figures Test (FEFT). Subjects included 302 students (52.7% male) enrolled in mathematics courses at a university in the southern United States. Students…

With some procedural differences, this study replicated an early study designed to develop algorithms for converting scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with those on the Prueba de Aptitud Academica (PAA) scale and vice versa. The study involved selection of test items equally appropriate and useful for English- and Spanish-speaking…

A literature review was conducted to determine the current state of knowledge concerning the effects of computer administration of standardized educational and psychological tests on the psychometric properties of these instruments. Students were grouped according to a number of factors relevant to the administration of tests by computer. Based on…

This study investigated the feasibility of the use of the three-parameter item response theory (IRT) model in Florida's minimum competency testing program. The paper includes the following sections: (1) a description of the procedures currently being used by the assessment program, with an emphasis on procedures currently involving the Rasch…

Standardized achievement tests and instructional accomplishment inventories involve different methodologies and cannot be equated by using conventional psychometric methods. Instructional accomplishment inventories are descriptive, and are designed to reflect the scope, sequence, and skills and emphasis in a particular instructional program.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether it would be possible to equate rights-scored to formula-scored tests without causing a discontinuity in the meaning of the score scale. Several other subsidiary studies--of the characteristics of the two scoring methods, of nonresponse and guessing, and of reliability and parallelism--were also…

This equating study of the National Board of Medical Examiners Examinations was a combined common persons and common items equating, using the Rasch model. The 1,000-item test was administered to about 3,000 second-year medical students in seven equal-length subtests: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, and…

A bill introduced in the New York State Legislature on April 26, 1979, would require that all tests used for postsecondary or professional school admissions become "public records" after they have been administered. The New York State Education Department is opposed to this bill because it would greatly increase the cost of test…

A general process for testing the feasibility of applying alternative mathematical or statistical models to the solution of a practical problem is presented and flowcharted. The system is used to compare five models for test equating: (1) anchor test equating using classical test theory; (2) anchor test equating using the one-parameter logistic…