There are several techniques that increase the precision of subscores by borrowing information from other parts of the test. These techniques have been criticized on validity grounds in several of the recent publications. In this note, the authors question the argument used in these publications and suggest both inherent limits to the validity…

Opponents of the Common Core State Standards are ramping up legislative pressure and public relations efforts aimed at getting states to scale back--or even abandon--the high-profile initiative, even as implementation proceeds and tests aligned with the standards loom. Critics of the common core have focused recent lobbying and media efforts on…

Recent reforms in educational testing have brought many changes in approaches to accessibility and accommodations. These new approaches provide an opportunity for students who may not have received accommodations in the past to now benefit from needed accessibility features that are built into the testing platform. This Brief presents information…

Hooker and colleagues addressed a paradoxical situation that can arise in the application of multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models to educational test data. We demonstrate that this MIRT paradox is an instance of the explaining-away phenomenon in Bayesian networks, and we attempt to enhance the understanding of MIRT models by placing…

Current educational policies rely on educational assessments. However, the technical aspects of assessments are often unknown to policy makers, which is dangerous because sound assessment policy requires knowledge of the strengths and limitations of educational tests. In this article, we discuss the importance of informing policy makers of…

In "How Is Testing Supposed to Improve Schooling?" Edward Haertel has proposed a framework for thinking about the mechanisms by which testing might improve the various educational processes undertaken in schools. The framework seems to the author to be quite general (he uses the word "general" here in its mathematical sense of including all cases)…

What is validity? A simple question but apparently one with many answers, as Paul Newton highlights in his review of the history of validity. The current definition of validity, as entertained in the 1999 "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" is indeed a consensus, one between the classical notion of attributes, and measures…

Dexter Evans recalled being taught the basics of social studies in high school: the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and three branches of federal government. Although it was more than five years ago when he graduated high school, he says most of the social studies/civics lessons were taught in the classroom and with limited…

This paper will focus on the effective review of English in the third grade of primary school. In the first part, the author introduces the importance of improving the effective review of English in the third grade of primary school. Analyzing from the aspects of theories, teachers have to get a good knowledge of language theories and analyze it…

In the 2014-15 school year, 47 states are administering high school assessments to gauge students' mastery of college and career readiness standards in English language arts (ELA) and math. These new assessments represent a departure from prior high school exams that measured acquisition of high school (or lower) content but provided no actionable…

The purpose of this study was to explore and seek to understand some of Maryland's math and science teachers' thoughts about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and increase testing. The study utilized a phenomenological inquiry approach and four teachers participated in the study. Two of the teachers taught science and two taught mathematics. The…

Professional standards for educational testing recommend that both the overall standard error of measurement and the conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM) be computed on the score scale used to report scores to examinees. Several methods have been developed to compute scale score CSEMs. This paper compares three methods, based on…

This focus article provided the author with an opportunity to unpack the consensus definition of validity and to explore its implications in the light of recent debates. He proposed an elaboration of the consensus definition, which was intended to express the spirit of the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" with increased…

As Paul Newton so ably demonstrates, the concept of validity is both important and problematic. Over the last several decades, a consensus definition of validity has emerged; the current edition of "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" notes, "Validity refers to the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of…

With the debut of common assessments less than two years away, states and districts are worried about the accountability systems that hinge on those tests. A growing chorus of policy groups is urging more flexibility in how states evaluate teachers, label schools, and enforce other high-stakes consequences during what's likely to be a messy…