The rapid advance of information and communication technologies (ICT) has important impacts on teaching and learning, as well as on the educational assessment. Teachers may create assessments utilizing some developed assessment software or test authoring tools. However, problems could occur, such as neglecting key concepts in the curriculum or…

This report describes a web-based assessment design tool, the Assessment Design and Delivery System (ADDS), that provides teachers both a structure and the resources required to develop and use quality assessments. The tool is applicable across subject domains. The heart of the ADDS is an assessment design workspace that allows teachers to…

In March 17th, 2008, the Baccalaureat exam in France celebrates 200 years since its establishment. The Baccalaureat is the French national examination to complete secondary education and determine admission to higher education. A byproduct of several factors: the strict educational philosophy of the Jesuits, the radical reforms of the French…

In educational measurement, the construction of parallel test forms is often a combinatorial optimization problem that involves the time-consuming selection of items to construct tests having approximately the same test information functions (TIFs) and constraints. This article proposes a novel method, genetic algorithm (GA), to construct parallel…

The development and evaluation of science students' metacognition, learning processes and self-efficacy are important for improving science education. This paper reports on the development of an empirical self-report instrument for providing a measure of students' metacognition, self-efficacy and constructivist science learning processes. A review…

Although commercially developed interest measures based on Holland's RIASEC types are effectively used in a variety of applied settings, these measures have somewhat limited research utility due to their length and copyright restrictions placed by the test publishers. In the present study, two sets of 8-item RIASEC scales were developed using…

Understanding the reasons for self-harm (SH) may be paramount for the identification and treatment of SH behavior. Presently, the psychometric properties for SH reason questionnaires are generally unknown or tested only in non-inpatient samples. Existing inpatient measures may have limited generalizability and do not examine SH apart from an…

Recent advances in educational technologies and the wide-spread use of computers in schools have fueled innovations in test construction and analysis. As the measurement accuracy of a test depends on the quality of the items it includes, item selection procedures play a central role in this process. Mathematical programming and the item response…

Lissitz and Samuelsen (2007) argue that the unitary conception of validity for educational assessments is too broad to guide applied work. They call for attention to considerations and procedures that focus on "test development and analysis of the test itself" and propose that those activities be collectively termed "content validity." The author…

Are prospective employers getting "quality" educated degreed applicants and are academic institutions that offer online degree programs ensuring the quality control of the courses/programs offered? The issue specifically addressed in this paper is not with all institutions offering degrees through online programs or even with all online…

The TOEFL iBT[TM] has increased the length of the reading passages in the reading section compared to the passages on the TOEFL[R] computer-based test (CBT) to better approximate academic reading in North American universities, resulting in a reduced number of passages in the reading test. A concern arising from this change is whether the decrease…

There are many kinds of classroom assessment--from informal observation of students to more formal exams and standardized tests. Two categories have been identified--formative assessments and summative assessments. Formative assessments are used by teachers to provide feedback to students and to guide improvement of instruction. For example, if a…

Presented at the Annual National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in San Diego in April 2009. This presentation explores how the College Board strives to ensure the relevance and utility of score reporting practices and methods for the PSAT/NMSQT and SAT scores. The new reporting methods allow for greater interaction and intervention at…

A short form of the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R; Cooper, 1994) was developed, using different item selection strategies based on a national representative sample of 5,617 12- to 18-year-old students in Switzerland. To confirm the concurrent validity of the short-form questionnaire, or DMQ-R SF, data from a second national sample…

The objective of this study was development and psychometric testing of an adaptive, International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF)-oriented questionnaire to be processed by the rehabilitation physician that aids in assessing mobility, self-care, and domestic life (Moses-Physician). The intent is to develop a physician…