Background and Context: There is a need for early childhood assessments of computational thinking (CT). However, there is not consensus on a guiding framework, definition, or set of proxies in which to measure CT. We are addressing this problem by using Evidence Centered Design (ECD) to develop an assessment of kindergarten-aged children's CT.…

The Remote Associates Test, generally used in creativity research, has Chinese versions for the three levels of "radical-word-vocabulary." However, research has not been conducted on the influence of the item components on the difficulties among these Chinese Remote Associates Tests (CRATs). The present study selected six item components…

Multistage testing (MST), an adaptive test delivery mode that involves algorithmic selection of predefined item modules rather than individual items, offers a practical alternative to linear and fully computerized adaptive testing. However, interactions across stages between item modules and examinee groups can lead to challenges in item…

Student evaluations of teaching are widely used to assess instructors and courses. Using a model-based approach and Bayesian methods, we examine how the direction of the scale, labels on scales, and the number of options affect the ratings. We conduct a within-participants experiment in which respondents evaluate instructors and lectures using…

To date, language testing research has devoted little attention to adult L2 learners with low levels of alphabetic print literacy (LESLLA), even though this population makes up for a substantial proportion of the candidature of language tests used for migration purposes. This special issue focuses on LESLLA learners, shows how literacy impacts…

Background: Research about the psychometric properties of the Behavioural Appraisal Scales (BAS) in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is limited. This study evaluates invariance in factor structure, item bias and convergent validity of the BAS. Methods: Data on the BAS from two studies (n = 25; n = 52) were…

This study utilized confirmatory factor analyses to examine the latent factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fourth Edition, Italian adaptation (WISC-IV Italian) standardization sample. One through five, oblique first-order factor models and higher-order as well as bifactor models were examined and compared using CFA.…

High stakes test-based accountability systems primarily rely on aggregates and derivatives of scores from tests that were originally developed to measure individual student mastery of content specifications. Current validity models do not explicitly address this use of aggregate scores to measure the performance of teachers, administrators, and…

In an era focused on testing to ensure accountability, educators question the fairness and wisdom of the standardized tests as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. The problem addressed by this study was the impact of stress, anxiety, and burnout on elementary teachers as a result of expectations in administering state…

Rearranging response options in different versions of a test of multiple-choice items can be an effective strategy against cheating on the test. This study investigated if rearranging response options would affect item performance and test score comparability. A study test was assembled as the base version from which 3 variant versions were…

Test items must often be broad in scope to be ecologically valid. It is therefore almost inevitable that secondary dimensions are introduced into a test during test development. A cognitive test may require one or more abilities besides the primary ability to correctly respond to an item, in which case a unidimensional test score overestimates the…

This paper analyses the associations between computer use in schools and at home and test scores by using TIMSS data covering over 900,000 children in fourth grade. When controlling for school fixed effects, pupils who use computers at school, especially those who use them frequently are found to achieve less than students who never use computers.…

Drawing on Glenn Fulcher's extensive work in performance-based language assessment of speaking, this paper explores the assessment of L2 speaking ability in local language testing contexts. For that purpose, I review Fulcher's influential work that highlights the relationship between the speaking construct, the task, the performance, and the…

Prompted by Taiwanese university students' increasing demand for English proficiency assessment, the absence of a test designed specifically for this demographic subgroup, and the lack of a localized and freely-accessible proficiency measure, this project set out to develop and validate a computerized adaptive English proficiency testing (E-CAT)…

This paper evaluates the impact on dropout rates of a policy change in Mexico that eliminates grade retention for all first to third-grade students, causing a sharp reduction in repetition rates. I use a 12-year panel of schools to exploit such variation and estimate Difference-in-Difference models showing an average decrease in dropout rates of…