Research has shown that many educators do not understand the terminology or displays used in test score reports and that measurement error is a particularly challenging concept. We investigated graphical and verbal methods of representing measurement error associated with individual student scores. We created four alternative score reports, each…

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment Scale III-Abridged Version (CoA-IIIA; Brown, 2006), a measure created, validated, and applied outside of North America, in a sample of Canadian preservice teachers (n = 436). This work is important because although we have long known that…

This study validated the factor structure of a popular assessment of learner's cognitive test anxiety. Following recent findings in a study with Argentinean students' use of the Spanish version of the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS), this study tested the factor structure using data from 742 students who completed the original…

Dynamic assessment is a procedure in which development is simultaneously assessed and improved with regard to the individual's or group's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD; Lantolf & Poehner, 2004). This study aimed to follow dynamic assessment and investigate the impact of three types of implicit and explicit feedback on the essay…

This study examines the development and implementation of a survey-based instrument assessing the effectiveness of a course redesign initiative focused on student centeredness at a large midwestern university in the United States. Given the scope of the reform initiative under investigation in this study, researchers developed an instrument called…

In the United States, government mandates for educational accountability have prompted an increase in testing in K-12 and higher education settings, resulting in a generation of millennial students who have undergone repeated assessment over the course of their educational careers. The cumulative effects of testing may range from increasingly…

This study explores the value in using the difference between a student's predicted first-year grade point average (FYGPA), based on high school grade point average and SAT scores, and their observed FYGPA, namely, their FYGPA residual, as a tool in identifying those at risk for leaving an institution. Specifically, this study examined…

Students' opinions continue to be a significant factor in the evaluation of teaching in higher education institutions. The purpose of this study was to psychometrically assess short students evaluation of teaching (SET) forms using the UAE University form as a model. The study evaluated the form validity, reliability, the overall question,…

Cognitive diagnostic analyses have been advocated as methods that allow an assessment to function as a formative assessment to inform instruction. To use this approach, it is necessary to first identify the skills required for each item in the test, known as a Q-matrix. However, because the construct being tested and the underlying cognitive…

This study examines the potential of the tree diagram, a type of graphic organizer, as an assessment tool to measure students' knowledge structures in statistics education. Students' knowledge structures in statistics have not been sufficiently assessed in statistics, despite their importance. This article first presents the rationale and method…

Accountability in higher education has increased, with more institutions requiring standardized tests. These tests are high stakes for institutions, but low-stakes test for students, who seldom experience consequences for their performance. This study describes how one psychology department improved students' scores on the Psychology Area…

This study assessed the interpretability of scaled scores based on either number correct (NC) scoring for a paper-and-pencil test or one of two methods of scoring computer-based tests: an item pattern (IP) scoring method and a method based on equated NC scoring. The equated NC scoring method for computer-based tests was proposed as an alternative…

Test-takers' interpretations of validity as related to test constructs and test use have been widely debated in large-scale language assessment. This study contributes further evidence to this debate by examining 59 test-takers' perspectives in writing large-scale English language tests. Participants wrote about their test-taking experiences in…

Prior research has shown that there is substantial variability in the degree to which the SAT and high school grade point average (HSGPA) predict 1st-year college performance at different institutions. This article demonstrates the usefulness of multilevel modeling as a tool to uncover institutional characteristics that are associated with this…

Despite the similarities that researchers note between the cognitive processes and knowledge involved in reading and writing, there are students who are much stronger readers than writers and those who are much stronger writers than readers. The addition of the writing section to the SAT provides an opportunity to examine whether certain groups of…