Item-pool management requires a balancing act between the input of new items into the pool and the output of tests assembled from it. A strategy for optimizing item-pool management is presented that is based on the idea of a periodic update of an optimal blueprint for the item pool to tune item production to test assembly. A simulation study with…

Two new tests for a model for the response times on pure speed tests by Rasch (1960) are proposed. The model is based on the assumption that the test response times are approximately gamma distributed, with known index parameters and unknown rate parameters. The rate parameters are decomposed in a subject ability parameter and a test difficulty…

The Bookmark method for setting standards on educational tests is currently one of the most popular standard-setting methods. However, research to support the method is scarce. In this report, we review the published and unpublished literature on this method as well as some seminal work in the area of evaluating standard-setting studies. Our…

A simulation study of a sequential computerized mastery test is carried out with items modeled with the 3 parameter logistic item response theory model. The examinees' responses are either identically distributed, not identically distributed, or not identically distributed together with estimation errors in the item characteristics. The…

This article addresses the relation between item recognition and associative (cued) recall. Going beyond measures of performance on each task, the analysis focuses on the degree to which the contingency between successful recognition and successful recall of a studied item reflects the commonality of memory processes underlying the recognition and…

This study introduces an order-constrained Bayes inference framework useful for analyzing data containing dichotomous scored item responses, under the assumptions of either the monotone homogeneity model or the double monotonicity model of nonparametric item response theory (NIRT). The framework involves the implementation of Gibbs sampling to…

The Hetter and Sympson (1997; 1985) method is a method of probabilistic item-exposure control in computerized adaptive testing. Setting its control parameters to admissible values requires an iterative process of computer simulations that has been found to be time consuming, particularly if the parameters have to be set conditional on a realistic…

In this article, the authors report 2 experiments that investigated the sources of information used in transfer and nontransfer tasks in artificial grammar learning. Multiple regression analyses indicated that 2 types of information about repeating elements were crucial for performance in both tasks: information about the repetition of adjacent…

This technical report describes the development of reading comprehension assessments designed for use as progress monitoring measures appropriate for 2nd Grade students. The creation, piloting, and technical adequacy of the measures are presented. The following are appended: (1) Item Specifications for MC [Multiple Choice] Comprehension - Passage…

This technical report describes the development and piloting of reading comprehension measures developed for use by fifth-grade students as part of an online progress monitoring assessment system, http://easycbm.com. Each comprehension measure is comprised of an original work of narrative fiction approximately 1500 words in length followed by 20…

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that measures 15-year-olds' performance in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy every 3 years. This report focuses on the performance of U.S.…

In Spring 2006,. the NAEP Validity Studies (NVS) Panel was asked by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to undertake a validity study to examine the quality of the NAEP Mathematics Assessments at grades 4 and 8. Specifically, NCES asked the NVS Panel to address five questions: (1) Does the NAEP framework offer reasonable content…

Written assessment items were developed to probe students' understanding of a variety of direct current (DC) resistive electric circuit concepts. The items were used to explore the mental models that grade 3-8 students use in explaining the direction of electric current and how electric current is affected by different configurations of simple…

The study examined the effects of item format, self-concept and anxiety on response changing behaviour. Four hundred undergraduate students who offered a counseling psychology course in a Nigerian university participated in the study. Students' answers in multiple--choice and true--false formats of an achievement test were observed for response…

A series of 8 tests was administered to university students over 4 weeks for program assessment purposes. The stakes of these tests were low for students; they received course points based on test completion, not test performance. Tests were administered in a counterbalanced order across 2 administrations. Response time effort, a measure of the…