Considers the way in which games can be woven into the curriculum to help pupils practice their mental skills in a situation quite different from the traditional mental test and in a way which reduces the pressures felt by pupils. (ASK)

Data from 45 studies involving 9,149 people were used to develop a short form of the Spanish version of the Nottingham Health Profile through Rasch analysis. Results confirmed the validity of using the developed 22-item short form to measure different groups of people categorized by gender, clinical, and health status. (SLD)

Discusses the basic concepts of testing and item development and the application of alternative assessments to information literacy content for library instruction. Topics include reliability; validity; statistical analysis; selected response, including checklists, rank order, or simple match; constructed response; essays; and complex assessments.…

Using 308 patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation, 2 regression equations were developed to predict weighted raw score sums for General Memory and Delayed Recall using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) analogs of 5 subtests from the original WMS. The equations may help reduce WMS-R administration time. (SLD)

Used the differential functioning of items and tests (DFIT) framework to examine the measurement equivalence of a Spanish translation of the Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) Questionnaire using samples of 309 Anglo American college students and other adults, 280 English-speaking Hispanics, and 244 Spanish-speaking college students. Results show…

Evaluated the equivalence of scores and one-parameter logistic model item difficulty estimates obtained from computer-based and paper-and-pencil forms of a licensure examination taken by 418 examinees. There was no effect of either order or mode of administration on the equivalences. (SLD)

Used samples of 142 management and 123 nursing undergraduates to evaluate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the newly developed Form S (short form) of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (G. Watson and E. Glaser, 1964, 1994). Results provide only limited support for Form S, and further refinement is suggested. (SLD)

To test preschoolers' ability to flexibly switch between abstract rules differing in difficulty, ninety-three 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds were instructed to switch from an (easier) shape-sorting to a (harder) function-sorting rule, or vice versa. Children learned one rule, sorted four test sets, then learned the other rule, and sorted four more sets.…

Recent articles in this journal (Foot 1999; Saville and Hargreaves 1999) have focused on the advantages and disadvantages of the paired format of the Cambridge Speaking Tests. This article aims to contribute to the debate by considering how the pairing of candidates may impact upon the language sample produced and could affect the assessment…

Spurred in part by University of California (UC) President Richard Atkinson's February 2001 proposal to drop the SAT I for UC applicants, more attention is being paid to other tests such as the SAT II and ACT. Proponents of these alternative exams argue that the SAT I is primarily an aptitude test measuring some vague concept of "inherent…

This article uses the work of two students to illustrate the need to consider changing the format of test items or making language adjustments to increase the validity of the test items as measures of the mathematics that students know.

This project consisted of a meta-analysis of U.S. research published from 1980 to 2004 on the effect of specific science teaching strategies on student achievement. The six phases of the project included study acquisition, study coding, determination of intercoder objectivity, establishing criteria for inclusion of studies, computation of effect…

The confidence level (information-referenced testing; IRT) design is an attempt to improve upon the multiple choice format by allowing students to express a level of confidence in the answers they choose. In this study, the author evaluated student perceptions of the ease of use and accuracy of and general preference for traditional multiple…

Model-based equating was compared to empirical equating of an Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test form. The model-based equating was done using item pretest data to derive item response theory (IRT) item parameter estimates for those items that were retained in the final version of the test. The analysis of an ASVAB test form…

The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is an internationally administered instrument for assessing nonnative speakers' proficiency in speaking English. The research foundation of the TSE examination described in its manual refers to two sources of variation other than the achievement being measured: interrater reliability and internal consistency.…