Research on collaborative testing has shown that it decreases test anxiety, increases learning and critical thinking skills, and allows students to practice collaboration and teamwork. However, it has most often been used as a second test following traditional individual testing. This quasi-experimental study compared two models of collaborative…

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a critical competency in a variety of contexts, including the workplace, school, and home. However, only recently have assessment and curriculum reformers begun to focus to a greater extent on the acquisition and development of CPS skill. One of the major challenges in psychometric modeling of CPS is…

Large-scale assessment (LSA) is a tool used by education authorities for several purposes, including the promotion of teacher-based instructional change. In Canada, all 10 provinces engage in large-scale testing across several grade levels and subjects, and also have the common expectation that the results data will be used to improve instruction…

A new vision of science learning described in the "Next Generation Science Standards"--particularly the science and engineering practices and their integration with content--pose significant challenges for large-scale assessment. This article explores what might be learned from advances in large-scale science assessment and…

The aspirational model resulted from the authors' secondary analysis of the Mother/Child (M/C) test block from the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress restricted data that examined the responses of the national sample of 8th-grade students (n = 1648). This test block presented no artmaking task and consisted of the same 13 questions…

This study investigated the application of multidimensional item response theory (IRT) models to validate test structure and dimensionality. Multiple content areas or domains within a single subject often exist in large-scale achievement tests. Such areas or domains may cause multidimensionality or local item dependence, which both violate the…

This "Practitioner's Guide to Growth Models," commissioned by the Technical Issues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) and Accountability Systems & Reporting (ASR), collaboratives of the "Council of Chief State School Officers," describes different ways to calculate student academic growth and to make judgments about the…

Several current international comparative large-scale assessments of educational achievement (ICLSA) make use of "Rasch models", to address functions essential for valid cross-cultural comparisons. From a historical perspective, ICLSA and Georg Rasch's "models for measurement" emerged at about the same time, half a century ago. However, the…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' accommodation recommendations for students during large-scale tests using two different methods to assist teachers with the decision-making process. Then we present descriptive data on teacher recommended accommodations for two case students who had presenting data to warrant changes in the manner…

Confirmatory maximum likelihood estimation of measurement models was used to evaluate the construct generality of self-report measures of anxiety across male and female samples. These measures included Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Taylor's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and two forms of Endler, Hunt and Rosenstein's S-R Inventory of…

Tests a model of the factors that influence groups to follow various paths as they make decisions. Uses three panels of contingency variables to predict properties of the group's developmental path. Finds that group decision paths and their properties can be predicted as a function of task and relational contingencies. (MS)

To gauge the relationship between intellectual ability and learning, the authors review the work of 20 theorists and analyze empirical correlations at both the elementary and secondary school levels. Intellectual ability is defined in the paper as including intelligence, prior learning, special aptitudes, and other cognitive characteristics. The…

The terms reading disability and dyslexia are discussed, as well as the meaning of function analysis as a way of diagnosing behavior and difficulties in reading and spelling. The author's model classifies reading disability and dyslexia as auditory, auditory-visual, visual, emotional, or pedagogic. The Bergen Study is described. (Author/LMO)

The development of a model for more effective usage of group administered standardized tests is developed. A method is illustrated which uses item groupings from subtests allowing a more effective use of the data for program and curricular decisions. (Author)

Technical considerations associated with item selection and reliability assessment are considered in relation to criterion-referenced tests constructed to provide group information. The purpose is to emphasize test building and the evaluation of test scores in program evaluation studies. It is stressed that an evaluator employ a performance or…