The Rasch model for test analysis is described and compared with two-parameter and three-parameter latent-trait models. Conditional maximum likelihood equations for estimating item parameters are derived, and estimates of person parameters are described together with their confidence intervals. Goodness of fit tests are discussed, including a…

Latent trait model calibration procedures were used on data obtained from a group testing program. The one-parameter model of Wright and Panchapakesan and the three-parameter logistic model of Wingersky, Wood, and Lord were selected for comparison. These models and their corresponding estimation procedures were compared, using actual and simulated…

The "A" testing program of the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study, Phase III-B, is summarized. A sample of 150 second grade and 134 fifth grade students completed the reading and mathematics achievement battery, as well as affective scales regarding reading, mathematics, and school. The administration procedures, test results, and psychometric…

This pamphlet reprints three papers and an invited discussion of them, read at a Division 5 Symposium at the 1975 American Psychological Association Convention. The first paper describes a Bayesian tailored testing process and shows how it demonstrates the importance of using test items with high discrimination, low guessing probability, and a…

These nine articles discuss and offer suggestions for various aspects of language teaching. In "Learning Foreign-Language Phonology: You Can't Hear It If You Can't Say It," Victor W. Mason reviews the literature supporting the proposition that accuracy of articulation is required for aural discrimination. In "Teaching Scanning," James Herbolich…

This paper reports an investigation of inferencing in Form Five of the Reading Comprehension component of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. The first step in the investigation consisted of an analysis of the language of the test to determine how the inferencing strategies employed might serve to mask answers. This preliminary analysis suggested that…

A pilot study was initiated to achieve reliability and especially validity indexes for measuring research and development impact. Two opposing questionnaires were administered to each of three target groups: 164 high school vocational education students, 120 secondary school vocational education teachers, and 56 vocational education…

This handbook is designed to assist teachers in using the Science Item Bank to construct diagnostic tests and end-of-course achievement tests. The item bank consists of over 2,800 multiple-choice items, and teachers are encouraged to supplement this source of test items with other forms of test questions. Key answers to these questions are arrived…

The extent, causes, and importance of context effects on item parameters for one- and three-parameter latent-trait models were examined. Items were taken from the California Achievement Tests Reading Comprehension and Mathematics Concepts and Applications subtests. The reading items were administered to 1,678 fourth-grade students, and the…

This manual is designed to accompany reports prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the 505 school districts in that state, summarizing results of the Educational Quality Assessment. The normative sample is described as being stratified on two dimensions: district enrollment and wealth. Administrative procedures are summarized.…

Two chi square techniques were applied to identify culturally biased items on the Reading Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension sections of the California Achievement Tests. Subjects were 1,035 Mexican Americans and 2,474 Anglo Americans in grade 7. Eight items appeared biased against Mexican Americans, but not Anglo Americans; seven occurred in…

COMPLETE EVALUATION DATA WERE GATHERED ON 162 CHILDREN IN 23 CLASSES IN NINE HEAD START CENTERS. FIVE AREAS EXPLORED WERE--(1) ITEM ANALYSIS OF EVALUATION TESTS--STANFORD-BINET AND THE CALDWELL-SOULE PRESCHOOL INVENTORY, (2) COMPARISON OF AGE-MATCHED GROUPS--43 MATCHED PAIRS WITHIN THE HEAD START POPULATION (THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES…

The purpose of this first phase of a continuing research program was the development of a test of creative problem solving in general design. A design class of 186 members was divided into an experimental and control group; a non-design control group (an educational psychology class) of 45 was also tested. Multivariate interpretation of creative…

This document supports the survey questionnaire to be administered to a sample of over 22,000 young adults in the second follow-up of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Data collection activities were scheduled to start in October 1974 and be completed by March 1975. The field test of the survey questionnaire,…

In September 1977 a reading and language arts test, based upon 40 objectives slated for student accomplishment by the end of grade four, was administered to all Delaware fourth graders. This test, the Objective-Referenced Measure in Communications, was intended to provide entry level diagnostic information to classroom teachers and to inform…