In 2016, the Office of the Higher Education Commission issued a directive requiring all higher education institutions in Thailand to have their students take a standardized English proficiency test. According to the directive, the test's results had to align with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In response to this…

In this study, differential item functioning (DIF) methods utilizing 14 different matching variables were applied to assess DIF in the constructed-response (CR) items from 6 forms of 3 mixed-format tests. Results suggested that the methods might produce distinct patterns of DIF results for different tests and testing programs, in that the DIF…

This study investigated some issues regarding the validity of the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) Subject Test: Korean with Listening. The SAT Korean has been administered just once a year since its inception in 1997. As of March 2006, it had been administered nine times. However, SAT foreign language tests are not as rigorously researched as…

"Naturalization Test Redesign Project: Civics Item Selection Analysis" provides an overview of the development of content items for the U.S. history and government (civics) portion of the redesigned naturalization test. This document also reviews the process used to gather and analyze data from multiple studies to determine which civics…

It was found test item arrangement does not significantly influence test results. (CK)

Violations of four selected principles of writing multiple-choice items were introduced into an undergraduate religion course mid-term examination. Three of the flaws significantly increased test difficulty. KR-sub-20 values were lower for all of the tests containing the flawed items than for the "good" versions of the items but significantly so…

This study investigated the feasibility of concurrently and randomly sampling examinees and items in order to estimate group achievement. Seven 32-item tests reflecting a 640-item universe of simple open sentences were used such that item selection (random, systematic) and assignment (random, systematic) of items (four, eight, sixteen) to forms…

For the principles studied here, poor item-writing practices serve to obscure (or attentuate) differences between good and poor students. (Authors)

The literature on item bias, i.e., the question of whether some items in tests favor one cultural group over another cultural group due to irrelevant factors, is reviewed and evaluated. All known references through 1981 are described including a large number of unpublished reports. Each method is described and the criticisms that have appeared in…

Effects that item order and basal and ceiling rules have on test means, variances, and internal consistency estimates for the Peabody Individual Achievement Test mathematics and reading recognition subtests were examined. Items on the math and reading recognition subtests were significantly easier or harder than test placements indicated. (Author)

The general purpose of this study was to determine the effects of similarities between stems and keyed choices on test difficulty. Unlike previous investigations of this undesirable characteristic of some multiple-choice items, the present study employed items that were unintentionally faulty and samples of examinees who were highly experienced…

On the basis of the characteristics of criterion-referenced tests, the contribution of German research to the development and application of criterion-referenced tests is discussed. (PN)