SHORTCUT ITEM-TEST CORRELATIONS FOR TEACHER-MADE TESTS

The item-test correlation is approximately equal to the difference between per-cents correct in high and low groups, each including 27% of the students tested.     

THE ISSUE OF ITEM AND TEST VARIANCE FOR CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS1

It has been argued that item variance and test variance are not necessary characteristics for criterion-referenced tests, although they are necessary for normreferenced tests. This position is in error because it considers sample statistics as the criteria for evaluating items and tests. Within a particular sample, an item or test may have no variance, but in the population of observations for which the test was designed, calibrated, and evaluated, both items and tests must have variance.     

AN EVALUATION MODEL FOR MASTERY TESTING1

Noting the desirability of the current shift toward mastery testing and criterion-referenced test procedures, an evaluation model is presented which should be useful and practical for such purposes. This model is based on the assumptions that the learning of fundamental skills can be considered all or none, that each item response on a single skill test represents an unbiased sample of the examinee's true mastery status, that measurement error occurring on the test (as estimated from the average interitem correlation) can be of only one type (α or β) for each examinee, and that through practical and theoretical considerations of evaluation error costs and item error characteristics, an optimal mastery criterion can be calculated. Each of these assumptions is discussed and the resultant mastery criteria algorithm is described along with an example from the IPI math program.     

THE ISSUE OF ITEM AND TEST VARIANCE FOR CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS: A REPLY

It is a necessary condition that items and tests have variance and discrimination in the range of interest (population of observations) for which they are calibrated and selected. The basis for selection of the calibration sample determines the kind of scale which will be developed, A random sample from a population of individuals leads to a norm-referenced scale, and a sample representative of abilities of a range of a characteristic leads to a criterion-referenced scale.     

THE ISSUE OF ITEM AND TEST VARIANCE FOR CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS: A CLARIFICATION

This note contends that item or score variability is an unnecessary characteristic of criterion-referenced tests as they have been traditionally conceived, namely, as measures of well defined classes of examinee behaviors.     

ITEM DIFFICULTY LEVEL AND SEQUENCE EFFECTS IN MULTIPLE-CHOICE ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

Certain testing authorities have implied that the proportion of examinees who answer an item correctly may be influenced by the difficulty of the immediately preceding item. If present, such a "sequence effect" would cause p (as an estimate of item difficulty level) to misrepresent an item's "true" level of difficulty. To investigate this hypothesis, a balanced Latin square design was used to rearrange examination items into various test forms. A unique analysis of variance procedure was used to analyze the resulting data. The alleged sequence effect was not found. Certain limitations preclude the generalization of this finding to all students or to all testing situations. However, the evidence provided by this investigation does suggest that comments relating to sequence effects should be qualified as compared with presently appearing statements.     

THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION FOR THREE MATHEMATICS ITEM FORMATS1

Different instructional programs were developed for three mathematics aptitude item formats to determine the relative susceptibility of each to special instruction. Subjects were male and female high school junior volunteers in 12 schools. In the seven weeks between a pre- and posttest, experimental Ss received 21 hours of instruction for one of the three formats; control Ss received no special instrucion. Each of the three formats was found susceptible to instruction directed toward it. The complex formats were most susceptible. Female Ss were slightly less able mathematically at the outset and benefited less from instruction than males. Mean gains of nearly a full standard deviation for groups instructed for the complex formats were considered to be of practical consequence.     

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SAMPLES ON ITEM AND TEST CHARACTERISTICS OF CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS

Although many have rejected classical test construction and analysis procedures for criterion-referenced tests, the present study was concerned with the possibility that classical procedures are both applicable and appropriate when samples of both mastery and nonmastery examinees are employed. A rationale for using these samples was presented, and empirical evidence was gathered which supported the practice of combining samples to increase the variance of test scores and thereby permit the proper estimate of reliability and item validities.