A study investigated the use of multidimensional scaling (MDS), a statistical technique, to examine the underlying structure of an ability test at the item level. Subjects were over 8,500 Egyptian students in the Department of Public Service at the American University in Cairo. The testing instrument used was a 36-item English language test based…

This study investigated the feasibility of using the three-parameter model in Florida's minimum competency testing program. LOGIST 4 was used to analyze 1984 Statewide Student Assessment Tests (SSAT)-II data, exploring possibilities that easiness of the test would cause problems in the estimation of the a and c parameters. These problems and…

This document contains the codebooks and data record layouts for the 1985-86 Public-Use Data Tapes, Version 1.0. The Public-Use data tapes are created by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to provide outside researchers access to NAEP data. This book provides coded data collected on and from third graders and 9-year-olds via…

Four tests were pre-equated on the basis of item-test regressions computed from a large sample providing pretest data. The tests were two mathematics tests (math computation and elementary algebra) and two verbal tests (sentence sense and reading comprehension) from the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test. Regular equipercentile…

The purpose of this study was to develop inventory items that measure the study habits and behaviors of adult students from a variety of college settings. There were two specific objectives: (1) to acquire as large and heterogeneous a sample as possible in order to factor out significant study behavior constructs for building a diagnostic and…

A model of verbal performance was developed which defined cognitive processes thought to underlie performance on the Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension subtests of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The items from two forms of these ASVAB verbal subtests were rated on five conceptualized cognitive storage processes:…

This paper introduces a probabilistic model that is capable of diagnosing and classifying cognitive errors in a general problem-solving domain. Item response theory is used to deal with the variability of response errors. Responses from a 38 item fraction addition test given to 595 junior high school students are used to illustrate the model.…

Defining practical significance in program evaluations is a difficult measurement problem which can only be solved by an intimate familiarity with the measures on which effects are estimated and their content relationship to the program goals. Past attempts to provide general solutions to the size of effect problem have relied on standardized…

The initial study was based on responses of 103 examinees on an objective classroom test. Results indicated that response changes increased item difficulties as well as biserial and point biserial correlations. Test reliability was not decreased. This implies that not all students benefit from changing initial responses. The personal biserial…

A variety of terms related to test bias or test fairness have been used in a variety of ways, but in this document the "fair use of tests" is defined as equitable selection procedures by means of intact tests, and "test item bias" refers to the study of separate items with respect to the tests of which they are a part. Seven…

The Adaptive Behavior Scale, as developed, contains 10 domains of behavior reflecting independent functioning and social-emotional responsibility in Part One, and 14 domains of behavior appraising social-emotional adaptation in Part Two. The establishment of construct validity and standardization of the Scale for use with normal and handicapped…

Test results from the Florida Educational Assessment of third and fifth grade communications and mathematics skills were used to compare linear and Rasch equating results. The samples consisted of over 5,000 cases for each grade and content area. The tests contained some items common to both the 1976 and 1977 test forms, but no fewer than 20…

An equating study was conducted on the Certifying Examination for Primary Care Physician's Assistants to compare the ability of current examinees with the standardization group and to determine if current test items are more difficult than previous items. Using 46 common items from the multiple choice section, the 1978 exam was equated to the 1976…

Each of the four Cultural Attitude Scales (CAS) contains fifteen graphic illustrations of the dress, sports, food and popular symbols for the Anglo American, Black American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican cultures, respectively. Designed to measure ethnic identity or cross-cultural awareness for grades one to six, they do not require reading…

The Number Test of the ACER Mathematics Profile Series, contains 30 items, for each of three suggested grade levels: 7-8, 8-9, and 9-10. Raw scores on all tests in the ACER Mathematics Profile Series (Number, Operations, Space and Measurement) are converted to a common scale called MAPS, a major feature of the Series. Based on the Rasch Model,…