The usage of "passe compose" and "imparfait" is one of the most challenging topics in French grammar for anglophone learners. Based on the aspect hypothesis formulated by Andersen and Shirai (1994), this study explored the patterns of errors made by higher-ability as opposed to average-ability students and male vs. female students with different…

The purpose of this study was to use differential item functioning (DIF) and latent mixture model analyses to explore factors that explain performance differences on a large-scale mathematics assessment between examinees allowed to use a calculator or who were afforded item presentation accommodations versus those who did not receive the same…

The purpose of this study was to examine specific aspects of the reliability and validity of age band 1 of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) (Henderson, Sugden, & Barnett, 2007) in Greek preschool children. One hundred and eighty-three children participated in the study; the children ranged in age from 36 to…

The purpose of this study was to develop and calibrate an assessment system, or bank, using the latest measurement theories and methods to promote valid and reliable student assessment in physical education. Using an anchor-test equating design, a total of 30 items or assessments were administered to 5,021 (2,568 boys and 2,453 girls) students in…

In 2010, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's Education Program has established the Deeper Learning Initiative, which focuses on students' development of deeper learning skills (i.e., the mastery of core academic content, critical-thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and "learn-how-to-learn" skills). Two test…

In the following, I confine my comments mainly to the issue of invariance in relation to Rasch's model for dichotomous, ability test items. "It is senseless to seek in the logical process of mathematical elaboration a psychologically significant precision that was not present in the psychological setting of the problem." (Boring, 1920)

Nambury S. Raju (1937-2005) developed two model-based indices for differential item functioning (DIF) during his prolific career in psychometrics. Both methods, Raju's area measures (Raju, 1988) and Raju's DFIT (Raju, van der Linden, & Fleer, 1995), are based on quantifying the gap between item characteristic functions (ICFs). This approach…

The Partial Credit Model (PCM) is sometimes interpreted as a model for stepwise solution of polytomously scored items, where the item parameters are interpreted as difficulties of the steps. It is argued that this interpretation is not justified. A model for stepwise solution is discussed. It is shown that the PCM is suited to model sums of binary…

Two test items that examined high school students' beliefs of sample size for large populations using the context of opinion polls conducted prior to national and state elections were developed. A trial of the two items with 21 male and 33 female Year 9 students examined their naive understanding of sample size: over half of students chose a…

This study examined the effectiveness of the odds-ratio method (Penfield, 2008) and the multinomial logistic regression method (Kato, Moen, & Thurlow, 2009) for measuring differential distractor functioning (DDF) effects in comparison to the standardized distractor analysis approach (Schmitt & Bleistein, 1987). Students classified as participating…

In this commentary, the author discusses two recent replications (Santelices & Wilson, 2010; Scherbaum & Goldstein, 2008) of some of his earlier work on SAT items using the differential item functioning (DIF) statistic wherein he contrasted the test performance of African American examinees with White examinees (Freedle, 2003). In this…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality (reliability and validity) of large-scale fitness testing in Texas and determine if reliabilities and validities were related to potential confounding variables. Four test administration scenarios were conducted to investigate the quality of data collected statewide as part of the Texas…

Using 3 experiments, I examined false memory for encoding context by presenting Deese-Roediger-McDermott themes (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) in usual-looking fonts and by testing related, but unstudied, lure items in a font that was shown during encoding. In 2 of the experiments, testing lure items in the font used to study their…

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is one of the most widely used measures of depressive symptoms in research today. The original psychometric work in support of the CES-D (Radloff, 1977) described a 4-factor model underlying the 20 items on the scale. Despite a long history of evidence supporting this structure,…

Evidence-centered assessment design (ECD) explicates a transparent evidentiary argument to warrant the inferences we make from student test performance. This article describes how the vehicles for gathering student evidence--task models and test specifications--are developed. Task models, which are the basis for item development, flow directly…