This study used generalizability theory and other statistical concepts to assess the application of the Angoff method to setting cutoff scores on two professional certification tests. A panel of ten judges gave pre- and post-feedback Angoff probability ratings of items of two forms of a professional certification test, and another panel of nine…

Background information on the testing program, administration details, and a description of the test are provided. The test, intended for administration in June 1986 to third-grade students in Alberta, Canada, consists of two sections. Section 1 is divided into two parts. Part A contains 25 questions covering numeration, geometry, and graphing; 12…

The passage dependence of an item refers to the degree to which it is necessary to read the associated passage in order to be able to answer that item correctly. This paper studies the value of obtaining data about passage dependence in the construction of reading comprehension achievement tests. Passage dependence indices were examined in several…

It is important to estimate the number of examinees who reached a test item, because item difficulty is defined by the number who answered correctly divided by the number who reached the item. A new method is presented and compared to the previously used definition of three categories of response to an item: (1) answered; (2) omitted--a…

This guide contains 285 test items for use in teaching a course in computerized numerical control. All test items were reviewed, revised, and validated by incumbent workers and subject matter instructors. Items are provided for assessing student achievement in such aspects of programming and planning, setting up, and operating machines with…

This report investigates the selection of appropriate texts for C-Tests, a modified form of the cloze test, for assessing second language learning. The procedure for textbook readability first involved the administration of different texts to sample groups to determine the C-test difficulty of individual texts. At the same time, a variety of…

The general goal of this paper is to help researchers conduct appropriately designed goodness of fit studies for item response model applications. The specific purposes are to describe: (1) an up-to-date set of promising and useful methods for addressing a variety of goodness of fit questions; and (2) current research studies to advance this set…

Work on item response theory was extended to two areas not extensively researched previously, including models for: (1) test items that require more than one ability for a correct response (MIRT); and (2) interaction between modules of instruction that have a hierarchical relationship (HST). In order to develop the MIRT and HST models, the author…

The Brand Emotions Scale for Writers (BSEW) is a 20-item scale designed to measure the emotions of writers; (1) immediately before writing (state-before), (2) immediately after writing (state-after), and (3) when writing in general (trait). This paper describes the development of BSEW and the factor structure of these three different forms. Common…

This paper deals with test fairness regarding a test consisting of two parts: (1) a "common" section, taken by all students; and (2) a "variable" section, in which some students may answer a different set of questions from other students. For example, a test taken by several thousand students each year contains a common multiple-choice portion and…

Part I discusses the many benefits of having an item bank of four-option multiple-choice questions for test construction in English language instructional programs. The advantages of the item bank include: increased effectiveness, efficiency, and professionalism among teachers and administrators in test development, design, writing, review, and…

A study examined whether the process of gathering verbal reports of subjects' thinking while taking multiple-choice critical thinking tests could be used to infer the reasoning process used and identify test items which do not require critical thinking skills. Four factors can render an inference of a subject's critical thinking skills…

A study attempted to estimate the instructional sensitivity of items in three reading comprehension tests in English as a second language (ESL). Instructional sensitivity is a test-item construct defined as the tendency for a test item to vary in difficulty as a function of instruction. Similar tasks were given to readers at different proficiency…

A methodology for investigating the influence of correction-for-guessing directions and formula scoring on test performance was studied. Experts in the test content field used a judgmental item appraisal system to estimate the knowledge of the minimally competent candidate (MCC) and to predict those items that the MCC would omit on the test under…

This twelfth grade diploma examination is written in both French and English. The test consists of 52 multiple-choice items and three written response questions. Two and one-half hours are provided for taking the test; approved calculators may be used. The test content covers a wide range of mathematical topics including: geometry; trigonometry;…