Best linear prediction (BLP) and penalized best linear prediction (PBLP) are techniques for combining sources of information to produce task scores, section scores, and composite test scores. The report examines issues to consider in operational implementation of BLP and PBLP in testing programs administered by ETS [Educational Testing Service].

The feasibility of using item response theory (IRT) as a psychometric model for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude Test was addressed by assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions of item response theory for GRE item types and examinee populations. Items from four forms and four administrations of the GRE Aptitude Test were…

The present study examined and evaluated the application of linear policy-capturing models to the real-world decision task of graduate admissions. Utility of the policy-capturing models was great enough to be of practical significance, and least-squares weights showed no predictive advantage over equal weights. (Author/CTM)

Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic item response model was used to study guessing behavior of low ability examinees on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, Verbal Measure. GRE scoring procedures had recently changed, from a scoring formula which corrected for guessing, to number-right scoring. The three-parameter theory was used…