The theory and technology of item characteristic curve (ICC) response theory and adaptive testing were applied to judging individuals' competencies against a prespecified mastery level to determine whether each individual is a "master" or "nonmaster" of a specified content domain. Items from two conventionally administered mastery tests…

This article describes a number of problems every educational measurement specialist should be prepared to confront before using microcomputers to support test-related activities, including problems with hardware, with software, and with implementing a system. It concludes with a checklist for planning a microcomputer application. (BW)

A broad-range tailored test of verbal ability, appropriate at any level from fifth grade upwards, is briefly described. The test score places persons at all levels directly on the same score scale. (Author/RC)

Issues that must be addressed in the large-scale application of computerized adaptive testing are explored, including considerations of test design, scoring, test administration, item and item bank development, and other aspects of test construction. Possible solutions and areas in which additional work is needed are identified. (SLD)

C. Davis and M. Cowles (1989) analyzed a total trait anxiety score on the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS)--a unidimensional construct that this multidimensional measure does not assess. Data are reanalyzed using the appropriate scoring procedure for the EMAS. Subjects included 145 undergraduates in 1 of 4 testing conditions. (SLD)

Introduces this issue of "The Counseling Psychologist," which considers several contemporary developments and issues in the areas of testing and assessment and their relevance for counseling psychologists. Topics examined by the papers are identified, along with five additional current issues in testing and assessment. (Author/TE)

Test-item writing efforts typically results in item pools with an undesirable correlational structure between the content attributes of the items and their statistical information. If such pools are used in computerized adaptive testing (CAT), the algorithm may be forced to select items with less than optimal information, that violate the content…

In the process of item calibration for a computerized adaptive test (CAT), many well-established calibrating packages show weakness in the estimation of item parameters. This paper introduces an on-line calibration algorithm based on the convexity of likelihood functions. This package consists of: (1) an algorithm that estimates examinee ability…

Measures of consistency and completeness of order relationships derived from test data such as Guttman scales are proposed. The measures are generalized to apply to incomplete data such as data from tailored testing. (Author/JKS)

Ethical considerations in use of computers in psychological testing and assessment are discussed. Existing ethics and standards that provide guidance to users of computerized test interpretation and report-writing programs are discussed and guidelines are suggested. Areas of appropriate use of computers in testing and assessment are explored.…

Among the changes in education called for under the No Child Left Behind act is the need for states to test students in a number of grades and subject areas. Scores from these tests are to be used for a variety of purposes, from identifying whether individual students are proficient, to helping determine whether schools are causing adequate growth…

The purpose of this paper is to enumerate a series of security steps that might be taken by those researchers or organizations that are contemplating Web-based tests and performance assessments. From a security viewpoint, much of what goes on with Web-based transactions is similar to other general computer activity, but the recommendations here…

Two-stage and multistage test designs provide a way of roughly adapting item difficulty to test taker ability. This study incorporated testlets (bundles of items) into two-stage and multistage designs, and compared the precision of the ability estimates derived from these designs with those derived from a standard computerized adaptive test (CAT)…

Many arguments have been made against allowing examinees to review and change their answers after completing a computer adaptive test (CAT). These arguments include: (1) increased bias; (2) decreased precision; and (3) susceptibility of test-taking strategies. Results of simulations suggest that the strength of these arguments is reduced or…

This study was conducted to investigate the equivalence of scores from paper-and-pencil (P&P) tests and computerized tests (CTs) through meta-analysis of primary studies using both kinds of tests. For this synthesis, 51 primary studies were selected, resulting in 226 effect sizes. The first synthesis was a typical meta-analysis that treated…