This document lists the test and item specifications for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for fourth grade reading. The test section of the document explains that the purpose of this test is to measure Washington fourth grade students' level of proficiency in the Essential Academic Learning Requirements in reading. The reading test…

This document outlines the test and item specifications for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for tenth grade reading. The purpose of this test is to measure Washington tenth grade students' level of proficiency in the Essential Academic Learning Requirements in reading. The reading test described in the document contains literary,…

A computerized adaptive test (CAT) administration usually requires a large supply of items with accurately estimated psychometric properties, such as item response theory (IRT) parameter estimates, to ensure the precision of examinee ability estimation. However, an estimated IRT model of a given item in any given pool does not always correctly…

This booklet contains the teacher's guide to a mathematics placement test which was developed to assist teachers in providing the best match between instructional materials and student needs. It covers math skills from whole numbers to algebra. The placement test is divided into six parts, each consisting of 10 to 22 problems, and is based on exit…

The Achievement-Levels Setting (ALS) process for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) resulted in numerical cutscores on the NAEP score scale representing the performance standards for three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. This paper focuses on an important, but less researched, aspect of the standard setting…

This study examined gender-based differential item functioning (DIF) on the 10th-grade history achievement test administered as part of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), which followed 24,599 8th graders into 10th and 12th grades. Several DIF analyses with varying matching criteria were conducted, and the results were…

This paper proposes a new Information-Time index as the basis for item selection in computerized classification testing (CCT) and investigates how this new item selection algorithm can help improve test efficiency for item pools with mixed item types. It also investigates how practical constraints such as item exposure rate control, test…

This "toolbox" offers suggestions about how and when to create objective tests. Such tests are sometimes a quick way to find out how students are doing, and sometimes they help students focus on what they are doing in class or help teachers define the content that is worth knowing. The following suggestions are offered for developing objective…

The 1999 Advanced Placement[R] (AP[R] Psychology Examination contains items drawn from 13 factors related to the study of psychology. This factor structure had not been explored previously. This study focuses on evaluating the fit of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models to examination items. Since examination items were dichotomous and…

This paper focuses on a version of sequential mastery testing (i.e., classifying students as a master/nonmaster or continuing testing and administering another item or testlet) in which response behavior is modeled by a multidimensional item response theory (IRT) model. First, a general theoretical framework is outlined that is based on a…

Chapters in this book present the challenges and dilemmas faced by researchers as they created new computerized assessments, focusing on issues addressed in developing, scoring, and administering the assessments. Chapters are: (1) "Beyond Bells and Whistles; An Introduction to Computerized Assessment" (Julie B. Olson-Buchanan and Fritz Drasgow);…

This document is part of a series of materials meant to promote understanding of knowledge and skills students must have and the kinds of work they must produce to be successful on the LEAP 21. LEAP 21 is an integral part of the Louisiana school and district accountability system passed by the state legislature and signed into law in 1997. The…

When determining criterion-referenced test length, problems of guessing are shown to be more serious than expected. A new method of scoring is presented that corrects for guessing without assuming that guessing is random. Empirical investigations of the procedure are examined. Test length can be substantially reduced. (Author/CM)

The test item content of 17 language assessment tools that are widely used in a school or preschool setting are displayed in tabular form to assist speech-language pathologists. By noting the categories that are marked, the clinician can compare the breadth of the tests. (SEW)

Three item selection methods for criterion-referenced tests are examined: the classical theory of item difficulty and item-test correlation; the latent trait theory of item characteristic curves; and a decision-theoretic approach for optimal item selection. Item contribution to the standardized expected utility of mastery testing is discussed. (CM)