This paper reports the results of generalizability theory (G) analyses done for new writing and speaking tasks for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). For writing, a special focus was placed on evaluating the impact on the reliability of the number of raters (or ratings) per essay (one or two) and the number of tasks (one, two, or…

To reduce the cost of item writing and to enhance the flexibility of item presentation, items can be generated by item-cloning techniques. An important consequence of cloning is that it may cause variability on the item parameters. Therefore, a multilevel item response model is presented in which it is assumed that the item parameters of a…

Score comparability is important to those who take tests and those who use them. One important concept related to test score comparability is that of "equity," which is defined as existing when examinees are indifferent as to which of two alternate forms of a test they would prefer to take. By their nature, computerized adaptive tests…

A study was conducted to compare, with simulated unidimensional and two-dimensional sets, the Type I error probabilities and rejection rates obtained with two versions of the LISREL computer program, the earlier version PRELIS/LISREL 7 and the later version PRELIS2/LISREL8, a version that corrects the asymptotic covariance matrix. Unidimensional…

In three lectures, Benjamin D. Wright of the University of Chicago introduces the Rasch model and its basic concepts. The first lecture, March 30, 1994 discusses the model created by Georg Rasch, a Danish mathematician, which Dr. Wright initially saw as merely a way to make raw scores into measures. Eventually, the model developed into a…

Items on achievement tests are designed to be equivalent in educational testing situations. That is, the information provided to the student is designed to be the same regardless of the ethnicity of the examinee. As a result, students of equal ability would normally be expected to select the same answer regardless of their ethnicity. However,…

This document contains materials directly related to the actual reading test of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), including the reading rubric, released passages, selected-response questions with answer keys, performance tasks, and scored samples of students' responses to the tasks. All of these items may be duplicated to…

This document outlines the test and item specifications for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for seventh grade reading. It notes the purpose of this test is to measure Washington seventh grade students' level of proficiency in the Essential Academic Learning Requirements in reading, and that the reading test contains literary,…

For complex educational assessments, there is an increasing use of "item families," which are groups of related items. However, calibration or scoring for such an assessment requires fitting models that take into account the dependence structure inherent among the items that belong to the same item family. C. Glas and W. van der Linden…

While assessment is the bread and butter of the teaching profession, its practitioners usually do not extend analysis of test responses beyond simple measures such as facility or discrimination indices in classical test theory. Item response theory (IRT) has much to offer but its nonintuitive content and difficulty make it a formidable obstacle in…

This booklet provides information and examples from the Mathematics Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) for elementary levels, given in the spring of 1998. These materials include the released items, anchor papers, and scoring guides. The MAP items consist of constructed responses and performance tasks from the state assessment. Anchor papers were…

This booklet provides information and examples from the Mathematics Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) for intermediate levels, given in the spring of 1998. These materials include the released items, anchor papers, and scoring guides. The MAP items consist of constructed responses and performance tasks from the state assessment. Anchor papers were…

This booklet provides information and examples from the Mathematics Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) for high school levels, given in the spring of 1998. These materials include the released items, anchor papers, and scoring guides. The MAP items consist of constructed responses and performance tasks from the state assessment. Anchor papers were…

The primary objective of this research was to examine the relationship between student achievement in mathematics and pedagogical approach used by middle school mathematics teachers in the United States who participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. In this research, student achievement was explored at the item, rather…

Jungian measures have proven extremely popular, selling more than three million copies per year for use in various types of counseling. This study investigated the construct validity of scores from an alternative measure of Jungian personality, the Personal Preferences Self-Description Questionnaire (PPSDQ) (B. Thompson, 1996). Forms of the PPSDQ…