Considers the extent to which a testing task can be made authentic so that it constitutes an example of normal and natural language behavior on the part of both examiner and candidate. Also considers the effects on test validity and the correct interpretation of test results if a test cannot be made authentic. (SED)

Item banking offers psychometric efficiency and user flexibility when compared with standardized testing. This article discusses the theories, procedures, and potential of item banks for improving educational measurement. (BS)

Compared Bender-Gestalt performance of 452 Navajo children with 1974 Koppitz and System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment norms (SOMPA), and investigated the use of the Bender-Gestalt for diagnosing learning disabilities. Results suggested the Koppitz and SOMPA White norms may be useful in psychological assessment of Navajo children. (JAC)

Very few studies of variations in grouping students for instructional purposes have concerned themselves with the legal aspects of the practice of separating children into classes. The legal problems facing those who make decisions related to sorting children for purposes of instruction were considered. (Author/RK)

Article presented a true story of how two cities ran testing programs and the lessons that can be learned from their failures. (Editor/RK)

Whether assessment items administered using screen reading software measure students learning better than assessment items in a paper-and-pencil format was studied. Using a computer to present a test orally controls for standardization of administration and allows each student to complete the assessment at his/her own pace. In this study, 96…

This paper discusses six challenges relevant to Web-based testing. Some of these challenges are not specific to Web-based testing, but generalize to all computer-based testing. The challenges are: (1) security and using test centers for Web-based testing; (2) measuring complex skills and problem-solving tasks on the Web; (3) integrating modern…

One of the most prevalent and controversial accommodations for students with disabilities is an audio presentation of written test material, the "read-aloud" accommodation. This study used test administration data from the Missouri Assessment Program to examine effects of using the read-aloud accommodation on the characteristics of…

This study investigated specific conditions under which out-of-scale information improves measurement precision and the factors that influence the degree of reliability gains and the amount of bias induced in the reported scores when out-of-scale information is used. In-scale information is information that an item provides for a composite trait…

This paper explores the development of universal design and considers its application to large-scale assessments. Universal design is a concept that originated in the field of architecture, but quickly expanded into environmental initiatives, recreation, the arts, health care, and now, education. In addition to the concept's application to…

Large-scale testing programs are generally based on the assumptions that the test-takers experience standard conditions for taking the test and that everyone will do his or her own work without having prior knowledge of specific questions. These assumptions are not necessarily true. The ways students and educators use to get around standardizing…

Procedures used to establish the comparability of scores derived from the College Board Admissions Testing Program (ATP) computer adaptive Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) prototype and the paper-and-pencil SAT are described in this report. Both the prototype, which is made up of Verbal and Mathematics computer adaptive tests (CATs), and a form of…

The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate five online pretest item calibration/scaling methods in computerized adaptive testing (CAT): (1) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with one-EM cycle (OEM); (2) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with multiple EM cycles (MEM); (3) Stocking's Method A (M. Stocking, 1988); (4)…

This book describes how educators at Harrison Elementary School in Twin Falls, Idaho, used the Standardized Timed Curriculum (STC) to raise students' standardized test scores. The monograph, which is divided into eight chapters, opens with an overview of testing in schools, the growth of the test-preparation business, and the need for school…

This chapter briefly describes some of the methods that test developers and psychometricians have devised to identify item and test bias and some of the challenges they still face. Although it may not be reasonable for classroom teachers to use these methods on a day-to-day basis in constructing tests, the authors argue that it is important for…