Describes advantages and disadvantages of computer-assisted foreign language testing, including unique capabilities of the computer, types of tests possible, limitations, problems, and language skill testing. The Spanish Computer Adaptive Placement Examination, developed at Brigham Young University (Utah), is described. (CB)

This document contains the test administration plan for the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), a test used to assess the college-level skills of Florida students in the early years of college. The plan contains the procedures to be followed during the year in the administration of the CLAST. The document specifies the responsibilities of…

Describes testing programs in Canada and suggests cautions to be used in psychological and diagnostic testing. Also discusses the use of standardized tests, computers, test validity and effectiveness, and parent attitudes. The demands of accountability and better management require counselor attention to testing and guidance. (JAC)

Dichotomous item response theory (IRT) models can be viewed as families of stochastically ordered distributions of responses to test items. This paper explores several properties of such distributions. The focus is on the conditions under which stochastic order in families of conditional distributions is transferred to their inverse distributions,…

This paper investigates the performance of CATSIB (a modified version of the SIBTEST computer program) to assess differential item functioning (DIF) in the context of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). One of the distinguishing features of CATSIB is its theoretically built-in regression correction to control for the Type I error rates when the…

This paper reports a method for assessing the adequacy of existing item banks for computer adaptive testing. The method takes into account content specifications, test length, and stopping rules, and can be used to determine if an existing item bank is adequate to administer a computer adaptive test efficiently across differing levels of examinee…

It is unrealistic to suppose that standard item response theory (IRT) models will be appropriate for all new and currently considered computer-based tests. In addition to developing new models, researchers will need to give some attention to the possibility of constructing and analyzing new tests without the aid of strong models. Computerized…

This paper reviews the research literature regarding the importance of Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation, particularly the research on measures of field independence using perceptual disembedding tasks. The first phase of development of a multiple-choice perceptual disembedding measure, the Finding Embedded Figures Test, is…

In January 1985, Employment and Immigration Canada funded a pilot project in New Brunswick for the development and testing of an Interprovincial Computerized Examination Management (ICEM) System. The resulting system is comprised of a dual interprovincial and provincial item bank facility, a software component offering the option of computerized…

A heuristic for solving large-scale zero-one programming problems is provided. The heuristic is based on the modifications made by H. Crowder et al. (1983) to the standard branch-and-bound strategy. First, the initialization is modified. The modification is only useful if the objective function values for the continuous and the zero-one…

In defense of retaining the "latent trait theory" term, instead of replacing it with "item response theory" as some recent research would have it, the following objectives are outlined: (1) investigation of theory and method for estimating the operating characteristics of discrete item responses using a minimum number of…

The practice of not sharing tests results with clients may soon be in conflict with the Ethical Standards for Psychologist (sic). Studies using self-validation of feedback information to study feedback parameters have shown that the form of feedback is less important than the content. To investigate direct feedback of test results by computer, the…

This study explored the utility, from a psychometric and cost effectiveness standpoint, of a computerized adaptive measurement system in an Air Force technical training environment. The phase 1 effort was designed to take the study to the point of producing an operational system ready to actually test technical training students adaptively. A…

A series of four vocabulary norming tests was used to develop a large, homogeneous pool of vocabulary test items for use in computer-administered adaptive testing research. Five hundred seventy-five unique vocabulary knowledge items were divided among the four norming tests, and administered to separate groups of college undergraduates. Norming…

This study examines the effect of item response time across 30 items on ability estimates in a high stakes computer adaptive graduate admissions examination. Examinees were categorized according to 4 item response time patterns, and the categories are compared in terms of ability estimates. Significant differences between response time patterns…