This article examines the psychometric structure of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire (ACQ) in Chinese adolescents. With the data collected from 212 senior high school students (94 females, 110 males, 8 unknown), seven models are tested using confirmatory factor analyses in the framework of the multitrait-multimethod strategy. Results indicate…

Mobile learning (m-learning) is a new trend in the e-learning field. The learning services in m-learning environments are supported by fundamental functions, especially the content and assessment services, which need an authoring tool to rapidly generate adaptable learning resources. To fulfill the imperious demand, this study proposes an…

The problem of valid measurement of psychological constructs remains an impediment to scientific progress, and the measurement of executive functions is not an exception. This study examined the statistical and theoretical derivation of a behavioral screener for the estimation of executive functions in children from the well-established Behavior…

National tests, an influential assessment practice in many countries in East Asia, are often blamed as obstacles to good instructional practices. In this paper, the positive impact of assessment, national tests in particular, is discussed using the case of Singapore. The first part of the paper includes an analysis of items from the primary grade…

The rapid advance of information and communication technologies (ICT) has important impacts on teaching and learning, as well as on the educational assessment. Teachers may create assessments utilizing some developed assessment software or test authoring tools. However, problems could occur, such as neglecting key concepts in the curriculum or…

Type I error rates of the likelihood ratio test for the detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in the partial credit model were investigated using simulated data. The partial credit model with four ordered performance levels was used to generate data sets of a 30-item test for samples of 300 and 1,000 simulated examinees. Three different…

An alternative method of finding a common metric for separate calibrations through the use of a common (anchor) set of items is presented. Based on Raju's (1988) method of calculating the area between the two item response functions, this (area-minimization) method minimizes the sum of the squared exact unsigned areas of each of the common items.…

This study provided preliminary results about the performance of the DIMTEST statistical procedure for detecting multidimensionality with data simulated from both compensatory and noncompensatory models under a latent structure where all items in a test were influenced by the same two abilities. For the first case, data were simulated to reflect…

Considers tests of unidimensionality in polytomous Rasch models against a specified alternative, given by a partition of the items into subgroups, that are believed to measure different dimensions of the latent construct. Uses data from an occupational health study to motivate and illustrate the methods. (SLD)

Studied the evidence for the practice of using parcels of item as manifest variables in structural equation modeling procedures. Findings suggest that the unconsidered use of parcels is never warranted, but the considered use of parcels cannot be dismissed out of hand. Describes a number of parceling techniques and their strengths and weaknesses.…

Provides a general method that adjusts for the inflation of information associated with a test containing item clusters and a computational scheme for the evaluation of the factors of adjustment for clusters in the restrictive and general cases. Illustrates the approach with an analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress data. (SLD)

Evaluated multidimensional linking procedures based on a framework recently proposed by T. Davey, T. Oshima, and K. Lee (1966): (1) the Direct method; (2) the Equated Function method; (3) the Test Characteristic Function method; and (4) the Item Characteristic Function method. Simulation results indicate advantages to the last two methods, but all…

Demonstrates how the mean and covariance structure analysis model of D. Sorbom (1974) can be used to detect uniform and nonuniform differential item functioning (DIF) on polytomous ordered response items assumed to approximate a continuous scale. Uses results from 773 civil service employees administered the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory…

In order to estimate the likely effects on item difficulty when a calculator becomes available on the quantitative section of the Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®-Q), 168 items (in six 28-item forms) were administered either with or without access to an on-screen four-function calculator. The forms were administered as a special research…

The method of maximum-likelihood is typically applied to item response theory (IRT) models when the ability parameter is estimated while conditioning on the true item parameters. In practice, the item parameters are unknown and need to be estimated first from a calibration sample. Lewis (1985) and Zhang and Lu (2007) proposed the expected response…