The analytically derived asymptotic standard errors (SEs) of maximum likelihood (ML) item estimates can be approximated by a mathematical function without examinees' responses to test items, and the empirically determined SEs of marginal maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE)/Bayesian item estimates can be obtained when the same set of items is…

In a classroom, a teacher attempts to convey his or her knowledge to the students, and thus it is important for the teacher to obtain formative feedback about how well students are understanding the new material. By gaining insight into the students' understanding and possible misconceptions, the teacher will be able to adjust the teaching and to…

The purpose of this study was to explore how Year 8 students answered Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) questions and whether the test questions represented the scientific understanding of these students. One hundred and seventy-seven students were tested using written test questions taken from the science test used in the…

OBJECTIVE: To report the assessment of psychopharmacology on the certification and recertification exams in general psychiatry and in the subspecialties administered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). METHODS: The ABPN's core competencies for psychiatrists were reviewed. The number of items addressing psychopharmacology or…

Described in this paper are the first three activities of a research program designed to assess the differential validity and utility of successive and simultaneous approaches to the development of equivalent achievement tests in the French and English languages. Two teams of multilingual/multicultural French-English teachers used the simultaneous…

This article describes the translation goals, challenges, strategies, and solutions employed in the development of a computer-based, self administered, psychiatric diagnostic instrument, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the Deaf (D-DIS-IV) in American Sign Language (ASL) with English captions. The article analyzes the impact of the…

The idea that validity should be considered a property of inferences, rather than of assessments, has developed slowly over the past century. In early writings about the validity of educational assessments, validity was defined as a property of an assessment. The most common definition was that an assessment was valid to the extent that it…

In 2003, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) included a special focus on problem-solving. This report reviews the problem-solving aspects of each study in order to compare and contrast the nature of problem solving in each assessment. The report's authors develop…

Although multivariate generalizability theory was developed more than 30 years ago, little published research utilizing this framework exists and most of what does exist examines tests built from tables of specifications. In this context, it is assumed that the universe scores from levels of the fixed multivariate facet will be correlated, but the…

The impact of language characteristics in mathematics test items on student performance was evaluated for students with disabilities (SWD) and English language learners (ELL) as well as a large general student sample. Relationships were examined for test items and students at 4th, 7th, and 10th grades. The individual test item was the unit of…

Researchers studying monitoring accuracy currently use two different indexes to estimate accuracy: relative accuracy and absolute accuracy. The authors compared the distributional properties of two measures of monitoring accuracy using Monte Carlo procedures that fit within these categories. They manipulated the accuracy of judgments (i.e., chance…

Background: Athletics programmes for secondary schools include a variety of skills, knowledge and cognitive abilities, which are currently assessed through written, practical, oral and/or video-based tests. Skills are traditionally taught in practice-based sessions, while the knowledge aspect is often reinforced in class-based sessions with…

This article describes the development of an English spelling measure designed to assess the progress made by Spanish-English bilingual children from Grade 2 to Grade 5. Different stages of developing the measure are described, such as selecting the focus features, the prepilot and pilot phases, and the operational version. Two underlying…

The purpose of this study is to analyze items that exhibit gender-related Differential Item Functioning (DIF) in Mathematics in Jordan. Data was taken from the TIMSS 1999 of Jordan, which includes responses of 5, 299 eighth grade students. Mantel-Haenszel (MH) DIF procedure was applied to 124 multiple-choice items. The results showed that 37 items…

In this technical report, the authors describe the development alternate forms of three types of early literacy measures as part of a comprehensive progress monitoring literacy assessment system developed in 2006 for use with students in Kindergarten through fourth grade. They begin with a brief overview of the two conceptual frameworks underlying…