The predictive analysis approach to adaptive testing originated in the idea of statistical predictive analysis suggested by J. Aitchison and I.R. Dunsmore (1975). The adaptive testing model proposed is based on parameter-free predictive distribution. Aitchison and Dunsmore define statistical prediction analysis as the use of data obtained from an…

The accuracy of standards obtained from judgmental methods is dependent on the quality of the judgments made by experts throughout the standard setting process. One important dimension of the quality of these judgments is the consistency of the judges' perceptions with item performance of minimally competent candidates. Several interrelated…

Differential functioning of males and females on achievement test items was studied in a sample of 110,000 students in kindergarten through grade 12. First, item parameters and ability estimates for these parameters were obtained from LOGIST computer program runs for the entire group. Predicted performance for each item for each group was…

The study was designed to examine the similarity of response options generated by different item writers using a systematic approach to item writing. The similarity of response options to student responses for the same item stems presented in an open-ended format was also examined. A non-systematic (subject matter expertise) approach and a…

A standard method for exploring item bias is the intergroup comparison of item difficulties. This paper describes a refinement and generalization of this technique. In contrast to prior approaches, the proposed method deletes outlying items from the formulation of a criterion for identifying items as deviant. It also extends the mathematical…

An Attitude Toward Blindness Questionnaire (ATBQ) was developed to assess individual progress through a Veterans Administration blind rehabilitation program. The instrument is also meant to measure attitudes toward blindness for blind persons, rehabilitation workers, and a "naive" group without contact with the blind. A method of…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Mathematics Assessment (1982) data were analyzed using latent class models to determine patterns of distinct skills required by different exercises and to estimate the pattern distributions. The populations were 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old examinees. Skills were assumed to be intermediate between…

Reliability and validity of the Ilyin Oral Interview (IOI) are examined with respect to interscorer agreement. This test is a structured questionnaire based on a sequence of pictures depicting common events in the daily life of a student. Interviews of 11 students from an English as a second language (ESL) class at the University of New Mexico…

Several special cases of the general Rasch model, varying in complexity, were investigated to determine whether they could successfully model realistic multidimensional item response data. Whether the parameters of the model could be readily interpreted was also investigated. The models investigated included: (1) the vector model; (2) the product…

Three kinds of instructionally sensitive achievement tests are described which provide useful information on formal schooling proficiencies: placement, progress, and attainment tests. Procedures to design, develop, and empirically verify attainment and placement tests are presented. The methodology is designed to ensure that the test instruments…

In most item response theory models a particular mathematical form is assumed for all item characteristic curves, e.g., a logistic function. It could be desirable, however, to estimate the shape of the item characteristic curves without prior restrictive assumptions about its mathematical form. We have developed a practical method of estimating…

Discussion of an item analysis on 40 questions given to 10-year-olds, and presented in a previous issue, is completed. In general, teachers' expectaions of the most important problems and student performance agreed. Several questions on decimals, area, and volume proved most difficult. Limitations of the study are noted. (LS)

A recent study of the quality of life in the rural South developed a weighted index of the overall quality of living based on subjective evaluations by rural residents of such concerns as the local government's quality, politics, political organizations, schools, educational system, churches, civic organizations, recreational facilities, job…

This document is a detailed module for instructing teacher trainees in the test development process. Upon completion of the package, the student is expected to be able to (1) identify pre-planning steps in test construction, (2) apply the two-way grid method of item classification, (3) develop and evaluate test items, and (4) apply item analysis…

Because it is a true score model employing item parameters which are independent of the examined sample, item characteristic curve theory (ICC) offers several advantages over classical measurement theory. In this paper an approach to biased item identification using ICC theory is described and applied. The ICC theory approach is attractive in that…