Differential granting of extra-examination time (EET) is commonly based on learning disabilities (LD) status: EET is granted to LD examinees and is denied to nondisabled examinees. We argue that LD serves as a proxy for the extent to which time limitation affects the examinee's test score (e). Hence, the validity of the LD-based EET granting…

Students in health care professional programs face many stressful tests that determine successful completion of their program. Test anxiety during these high stakes examinations can affect working memory and lead to poor outcomes. Methods of decreasing test anxiety include lengthening the time available to complete examinations or evaluating…

We investigated how young language learners process their responses on and perceive a computer-mediated, timed speaking test. Twenty 8-, 9-, and 10-year-old non-native English-speaking children (NNSs) and eight same-aged, native English-speaking children (NSs) completed seven computerized sample TOEFL® Primary™ speaking test tasks. We investigated…

In an effort to better understand the impact of timing limits, the authors compare the learning outcomes of students who completed timed quizzes with students who took untimed quizzes in economics principles courses. Students were assigned two online quizzes--one timed and one untimed--and re-tested on the material the following class day. Our…

Children from a low socioeconomic status (SES) are exposed to numerous stress factors that are negatively associated with sustained attention and academic performance. This association suggests that the timed component of lengthy assessments may be unfair for students from such backgrounds, as they may have an inability to sustain attention during…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of initial touch speed achievement of fifth grade keyboarding students on their touch keyboarding skill retention in seventh grade. This was a longitudinal study generating quantitative data. The subjects for this study were 132 seventh grade students from a suburban middle school in…

For most tests administered with time limits some examinees complete all items while others do not. It is often useful to know what the distribution of items completed would be if the number of items on the test were much larger. It may also be of interest to estimate the correlation between working speed, as measured by the number of items…

A more generalized error model for time-limit tests is developed. Model estimates are derived for right-attempted and wrong-attempted correlations both within the same test and between different tests. A comparison is made between observed correlations and their model counterparts and a fair agreement is found between observed and expected…

The impact of allowing more time for each question on SAT® I: Reasoning Test scores was estimated by embedding sections with a reduced number of questions into the standard 30-minute equating section of two national test administrations. Thus, for example, questions were deleted from a verbal section that contained 35 questions to produce forms…

This study took an experimental approach to evaluating test speededness. In order to assess the benefits of extra time (or the penalty of strict time limits) on new SAT scores, sections that were designed to be administered with a 25-minute time limit were administered with a 40-minute time limit (or slightly more than time and a half) as part of…

The previous theoretical development of the Poisson process as a strong model for the true-score theory of mental tests is discussed, and additional theoretical properties of the model from the standpoint of individual examinees are developed. The paper introduces the Erlang process as a family of test theory models and shows in the context of…

The problem of determining optimal test lengths with fixed total testing time has proved to be a difficult one for criterion-referenced test developers. An algorithm is needed which can be used by test developers to allocate available testing time to maximize the validity of their total criterion-referenced tests or testing programs. To be…

The family of Weibull distributions was investigated as a model for the distributions of response times for items in computer-based criterion-referenced tests. The fit of these distributions were, with a few exceptions, good to excellent according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. For a few relatively simple items, the two-parameter gamma…