A binary communication format and active interrogation were used to administer the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) to 25 individuals unable to make oral or fine-motor responses resulting from various physical and intellectual disabilities. Results correlated with those obtained using the standard form. Discussion focuses on use with…

Discusses three purposes of tests and assessments in educational performance evaluation: providing information for the purpose of accounting to people outside of schools; providing information to teachers to help them improve instruction; and helping students learn. Also addressed are problems of test bias and the need to coordinate testing with…

Reviews the advantages and disadvantages of computer-based language tests, explores in detail developments in Internet-based testing using the examples of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and DIALANG--an innovative on-line suite of diagnostic tests and self-assessment procedures in 14 European languages--and outlines a research agenda for…

Evaluated the relative accuracy of the weighted likelihood estimate (WLE) of T. Warm (1989) compared to the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE), expected a posteriori estimate, and maximum a posteriori estimate. Results of the Monte Carlo study, which show the relative advantages of each approach, suggest that the test termination rule has more…

This book contains a series of research articles about computerized adaptive testing (CAT) written for advanced psychometricians. The book is divided into sections on: (1) item selection and examinee scoring in CAT; (2) examples of CAT applications; (3) item banks; (4) determining model fit; and (5) using testlets in CAT. (SLD)

Extended the use of a beta prior in trait estimation to the maximum expected a posteriori (MAP) method of Bayesian estimation. This new method, essentially unbiased MAP, was compared with MAP, essentially unbiased expected a posteriori, weighted likelihood, and maximum-likelihood estimation methods. The new method significantly reduced bias in…

Proposes a procedure for empirical initialization of the trait (theta) estimator in adaptive testing that is based on the statistical relation between theta and background variables known prior to test administration. Illustrates the procedure for an adaptive version of a test from the Dutch General Aptitude Battery. (SLD)

Some of the challenges that test publishers face in constructing educational assessments that meet high technical quality as prescribed in the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" (AERA, APA, NCME, 1999) are examined. Federal educational initiatives are used to illustrate demands on technical quality that challenge the efforts of…

The Internet has significantly changed the way people conduct business, communicate, and live. In this article, the authors' focus is on how the Internet influences the practice of psychology as it relates to testing and assessment. The report includes 5 broad sections: background and context, new problems yet old issues, issues for special…

Recent studies have shown that restricting review and answer change opportunities on computerized adaptive tests (CATs) to items within successive blocks reduces time spent in review, satisfies most examinees' desires for review, and controls against distortion in proficiency estimates resulting from intentional incorrect answering of items prior…

In the last few years, schools and universities have incorporated personal digital assistants (PDAs) into their teaching curricula in an attempt to enhance students' learning experience and reduce instructors' workload. One of the most common uses of PDAs in the classroom is as a test administrator. This study compared the usability effectiveness,…

Testing accommodations used in students' IEPs or recommended by classroom teachers were investigated. Three domains of testing accommodations were examined; (a) accommodations recommended through the IEP process, (b) accommodations recommended by the teacher, and (c) accommodations provided in the testing sessions, to explore factors that…

Nonparametric item response models have been developed as alternatives to the relatively inflexible parametric item response models. An open question is whether it is possible and practical to administer computerized adaptive testing with nonparametric models. This paper explores the possibility of computerized adaptive testing when using…

The present studies were undertaken to examine the effects of manipulating delay-interval task (Study 1) and timing of feedback (Study 2) on acquisition and retention. Participants completed a 100-item cumulative final examination, which included 50 items from each laboratory examination, plus 50 entirely new items. Acquisition and retention were…

The IRT (Item Response Theory) has been studied and applied in computer-based test for decades. However, almost of all these existing studies evaluated focus merely on test questions with text-based (or static text/graphic) type of presentation form illustrated exclusively. In this paper, we present our study on test questions using both…