A rapidly expanding arena for item response theory (IRT) is in attitudinal and health-outcomes survey applications, often with polytomous items. In particular, there is interest in computer adaptive testing (CAT). Meeting model assumptions is necessary to realize the benefits of IRT in this setting, however. Although initial investigations of…

The evolution from static to dynamic electronic learning environments has stimulated the research on adaptive item sequencing. A prerequisite for adaptive item sequencing, in which the difficulty of the item is constantly matched to the ability level of the learner, is to have items with a known difficulty level. The difficulty level can be…

The study of measurement invariance in polytomous items that targets individual score levels is known as differential step functioning (DSF). The analysis of DSF requires the creation of a set of dichotomizations of the item response variable. There are two primary approaches for creating the set of dichotomizations to conduct a DSF analysis: the…

The Indian Institute of Science is proud to host the fully in-person sixteenth iteration of the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) during July 11-14, 2023. EDM is the annual flagship conference of the International Educational Data Mining Society. The theme of this year's conference is "Educational data mining for…

The aim of this study is to compare the change of pre-service science teachers' views about the nature of scientific knowledge through Project-Based History and Nature of Science training and Conventional Method. The sample of the study consists of two groups of 3rd grade undergraduate students attending teacher preparation program of science…

The meaning, measurement, and implications of "public opinion" have long been a source of debate. In this paper, we examine the extent to which the educational priorities of elites in the US reflect the educational priorities of the American public. To do so, we focus on one particular segment of the education policy-making elite --…

The current study used simulated data to investigate the properties of a newly proposed method (Yao's rater model) for modeling rater severity and its distribution under different conditions. Our study examined the effects of rater severity, distributions of rater severity, the difference between item response theory (IRT) models with rater effect…

Critical thinking helps students to confront a multitude of challenges they will face in their careers and personal lives. It is therefore an important task of higher education to promote students' critical thinking. However, students do not enter higher education with a blank page. Background characteristics of students are important in…

The new requirement placed on students in tertiary settings in Spain to demonstrate a B1 or a B2 proficiency level of English, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL), has led most Spanish universities to develop a program of certification or accreditation of the required level. The first part of this…

Large class size is an issue in testing at all levels of Education. As a panacea to this, multiple choice test formats has become very popular. This case study was designed to diagnose pre-service teachers' competency in constructing questions (IQT); direct questions (DQT); and best answer (BAT) varieties of multiple choice items. Subjects were 88…

This study demonstrated the equivalence between the Rasch testlet model and the three-level one-parameter testlet model and explored the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for model parameter estimation in WINBUGS. The estimation accuracy from the MCMC method was compared with those from the marginalized maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE)…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an eighth grade state-level math assessment contained items that function differentially (DIF) for English Learner students (EL) as compared to English Only students (EO) and if so, what factors might have caused DIF. To determine this, Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis was employed.…

We describe an innovative automated test construction algorithm for building aligned achievement tests. By incorporating the algorithm into the test construction process, along with other test construction procedures for building reliable and unbiased assessments, the result is much more valid tests than result from current test construction…

When power tests include a time limit, it is important to assess the possibility of speededness for examinees. Past research on differential speededness has examined gender and ethnic subgroups in the United States on paper and pencil tests. When considering the needs of a global audience, research regarding different native language speakers is…

Math in Common® (MiC) is a five-year initiative that supports a formal network of 10 California school districts as they implement the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M) across grades K-8. In spring 2015, WestEd administered surveys to understand the perspectives on Common Core State Standards-Mathematics (CCSS-M) implementation…