The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) assumes that state-mandated tests provide useful information to school administrators and teachers. However, interviews with administrators and teachers suggest that Minnesota's tests, which are representative of the current generation of state-mandated tests, fail to provide useful information to administrators…

This article focuses on the design of competency-based performance assessment in e-learning. Though effort has been invested in designing powerful e-learning environments, relatively little attention has been paid to the design of valid and reliable assessments in such environments, leaving many questions to educational developers and teachers. As…

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and the Wisconsin Geriatric Education Center (WGEC) are committed to developing educational materials for primary care physicians in training. In response to the opportunity created by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competency mandate, an MCW-led interdisciplinary working…

In this article, the author describes how she maintains student interest with the use of advanced technology. The author is currently using an assessment tool in her classroom--the Classroom Performance System (CPS)--that actually brings cheers from her students. The CPS provides an objective way to measure student understanding by using…

This study evaluated expert system diagnoses of examinees' solutions to complex constructed-response algebra word problems. Problems were presented to three samples (30 college students each), each of which had taken the Graduate Record Examinations General Test. One sample took the problems in paper-and-pencil form and the other two on computer.…

This study attempts to estimate Structure of Learning Outcome (SOLO) levels in mathematics using the Partial Credit and Rating Scale models. A 30-item test comprising 10 testlets of 3 items each was designed and administered to 674 lower secondary school students. The items were arranged in a hierarchical manner, each testing SOLO levels in this…

The perspective of the examinee during the administration of a computerized adaptive test (CAT) is discussed, focusing on issues of test development. Item review is the first issue discussed. Virtually no CATs provide the opportunity for the examinee to go back and review, and possibly change, answers. There are arguments on either side of the…

Instruments used in a study by M. B. Kinzie and M. A. Delacourt (1991), the Attitude towards Computer Technologies (ACT) and the Self-efficacy for Computer Technologies (SCT), assess preservice teachers' perceived usefulness of and comfort level with specific computer technologies. This study uses a population confirmed to be similar to that used…

A study determined the viability and effectiveness of the Computerized Competent Speaker Evaluation System. A total of 659 comments made by undergraduate students about the paper version of the Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form were subjected to two Q sorts. The 635 comments that emerged were incorporated into the evaluation system during…

The Educational Testing Service is moving rapidly to computerize its tests for admissions to postsecondary education and occupational licensure/certification. Computerized tests offer important advantages, including immediate score reporting, the convenience of testing when the examinee wishes, and for adaptive tests, equal accuracy throughout the…

The relationships among teaching, testing, and learning are examined and reconceptualized based on different theories and computer adaptive testing. Approaches that integrate teaching, testing, and learning include: (1) behavioral psychology; (2) cognitive psychology; and (3) computer adaptive testing (CAT). Some behaviorists have assumed that all…

The instructional validity of computer administered tests was studied with a focus on whether differences in test scores and item behavior are a function of instructional mode (computer versus non-computer). In the first of 3 studies, performance test scores for approximately 400 high school students in 1990-91 for tasks accomplished with the…

This study examined the effects of high school course choices, grades, and Grade Ten Assessment Test scores (GTAT) in math and reading, along with race and gender, on student performance on a computerized placement test (CPT) administered upon entry to community colleges in Florida. The sample consisted of 19,736 African-American, white, and…

The reliability of four branching algorithms commonly used in computer adaptive testing (CAT) was examined. These algorithms were: (1) maximum likelihood (MLE); (2) Bayesian; (3) modal Bayesian; and (4) crossover. Sixty-eight undergraduate college students were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions using the HyperCard-based CAT program,…

Responses to previously calibrated items administered in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) mode may be used to recalibrate the items. This live-data simulation study investigated the possibility, and limitations, of on-line adaptive recalibration of precalibrated items. Responses to items of a Rasch-based paper-and-pencil licensure examination…