Item parameter drift (IPD) refers to the phenomenon in which the parameter values of a given test item change over multiple testing occasions within the item response theory (IRT) framework. This phenomenon is often relevant to student progress monitoring assessments where a set of items is used several times in one year, or across years, […]
The concept of Speeded vs Power Test is one of the ways of differentiating psychometric or educational assessments. In the context of educational measurement and depending on the assessment goals and time constraints, tests are categorized as speeded and power. There is also the concept of a Timed test, which is really a Power test. […]
Item fit analysis is a type of model-data fit evaluation that is specific to the performance of test items. It is a very useful tool in interpreting and understanding test results, and in evaluating item performance. By implementing any psychometric model, we assume some sort of mathematical function is happening under the hood, and we […]
Educational assessment of Mathematics achievement is a critical aspect of most educational ministries and programs across the world. One might say that all subjects at school are equally important and that would be relatively true. However, Mathematics stands out amongst the remaining ones, because it is more than just an academic subject. Here are three […]
Progress monitoring is an essential component of a modern educational system and is often facilitated through Learning Management Systems (LMS), which streamline the tracking of learners’ academic achievements over time. Are you interested in tracking learners’ academic achievements during a period of learning, such as a school year? Then you need to design a valid […]
Vertical scaling is the process of placing scores from educational assessments that measure the same knowledge domain but at different ability levels onto a common scale (Tong & Kolen, 2008). The most common example is putting Mathematics or Language assessments for K-12 onto a single scale across grades. For example, you might have Grade 4 […]
Test equating refers to the issue of defensibly translating scores from one test form to another. That is, if you have an exam where half of students see one set of items while the other half see a different set, how do you know that a score of 70 is the same one both forms? […]
The Bookmark Method of standard setting (Lewis, Mitzel, & Green, 1996) is a scientifically-based approach to setting cutscores on an examination. It allows stakeholders of an assessment to make decisions and classifications about examinees that are constructive rather than arbitrary (e.g., 70%), meet the goals of the test, and contribute to overall validity. A major […]
