Some standard-setting methods require judges to estimate the probability that an examinee who just meets an achievement standard will answer each of a set of items correctly. These probability estimates are then used to infer the values on some latent scale that, in theory, determines an examinee's responses. The paper focuses on the procedures…

This guide is designed to provide essential background material about the College Board's Computerized Placement Tests (CPTs). It is recommended for administrators and staff alike. It contains the theory on which the tests are based, information concerning how to administer them, and discussions of the reports produced and how to interpret the…

This paper discussed methods currently under study for use with multiple-response data. Besides using Bonferroni inequality methods to control type one error rate over a set of inferences involving multiple response data, a recently proposed methodology of plotting the p-values resulting from multiple significance tests was explored. Proficiency…

Criticism of standardized tests is extensive, and a number of claims of test misuse have been made. Test misuse is discussed in six common circumstances. (1) Test users accept the title of a test as an accurate and complete description of the variable being measured, not having full knowledge of the test, its items, and the test manual. A…

This paper analyzes Jencks et al's (1983) and Hauser et al's (1983) reports of their research on the Wisconsin status attainment model. For example, the meaning and interpretation of "unmeasured" family background are discussed and the charge that the status attainment model ignores social structure is examined. (Author/IS)

Describes eight uses of the microcomputer in the chemistry classroom. Includes games, simulations, and graphics programs most of which are available from Project SERAPHIM. (MVL)

This paper addresses problems confronting law school teachers in grading law school exams and assigning letter grades. Using prototypical dialogue and scenarios, the paper examines mathematical and statistical issues that contribute to grading errors. Discussed in relation to real world data and the bar exam are: differential weighting, combining…

In the past decade, there have been ample interests in the assessment of cognitive and affective processes and products for the purposes of meaningful learning. Meaningful measurement (MM) has been proposed which is in accordance with a humanistic constructivist information-processing perspective. Students' responses to the assessment tasks are…

The partial credit model of G. N. Masters (1982), a one-parameter unidimensional polychotomous Rasch model, was used to reduce the error of measurement, particularly for students near the cut score, and to permit measurement to reflect the actual ability of a student more accurately by reducing the degree of misfit for students near the cut…

In this paper, performance assessments are cast within a sampling framework. A performance assessment score is viewed as a sample of student performance drawn from a complex universe defined by a combination of all possible tasks, occasions, raters, and measurement methods. Using generalizability theory, the authors present evidence bearing on the…

The study examines the rule space model, a probabilistic model capable of measuring cognitive skill acquisition and of diagnosing erroneous rules of operation in a procedural domain. The model involves two important components: (1) determination of a set of bug distributions (bug density functions representing clusters around the rules); and (2)…

This is the third module in a four-module training package for use in inservice seminars or workshops on performance appraisal and employee development. Module 3 focuses on the actual performance review process. The first part outlines requirements for constructing objective, workable employee development plans, in particular factors resulting in…

Information provided by typical and improved conventional classroom achievement tests was compared with information provided by an adaptive test covering the same subject matter. Both tests were administered to over 700 college students in a general biology course. Using the same scoring method, adaptive testing was found to yield substantially…

The National Longitudinal Study (NLS) of the High School Class of 1972 is a large-scale long-term survey effort supported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. NLS is designed to provide statistics on a national sample…

This Statistics in Brief analyzes parents' reports of school practices to provide information to families, using data from the 2003 Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey and the 1996 Parent and Family Involvement in Education and Civic Involvement Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program. Parent reports of school…