Three local observed-score kernel equating methods that integrate methods from the local equating and kernel equating frameworks are proposed. The new methods were compared with their earlier counterparts with respect to such measures as bias--as defined by Lord's criterion of equity--and percent relative error. The local kernel item response…

In spite of all of the technical progress in observed-score equating, several of the more conceptual aspects of the process still are not well understood. As a result, the equating literature struggles with rather complex criteria of equating, lack of a test-theoretic foundation, confusing terminology, and ad hoc analyses. A return to Lord's…

This article is a response to the commentaries on the position paper on observed-score equating by van der Linden (this issue). The response focuses on the more general issues in these commentaries, such as the nature of the observed scores that are equated, the importance of test-theory assumptions in equating, the necessity to use multiple…

A critical component of test speededness is the distribution of the test taker's total time on the test. A simple set of constraints on the item parameters in the lognormal model for response times is derived that can be used to control the distribution when assembling a new test form. As the constraints are linear in the item parameters, they can…

Two methods of local linear observed-score equating for use with anchor-test and single-group designs are introduced. In an empirical study, the two methods were compared with the current traditional linear methods for observed-score equating. As a criterion, the bias in the equated scores relative to true equating based on Lord's (1980)…

In automated test assembly (ATA), the methodology of mixed-integer programming is used to select test items from an item bank to meet the specifications for a desired test form and optimize its measurement accuracy. The same methodology can be used to automate the formatting of the set of selected items into the actual test form. Three different…

According to a popular belief, test takers should trust their initial instinct and retain their initial responses when they have the opportunity to review test items. More than 80 years of empirical research on item review, however, has contradicted this belief and shown minor but consistently positive score gains for test takers who changed…

Although response times on test items are recorded on a natural scale, the scale for some of the parameters in the lognormal response-time model (van der Linden, 2006) is not fixed. As a result, when the model is used to periodically calibrate new items in a testing program, the parameter are not automatically mapped onto a common scale. Several…

Two different traditions of response-time (RT) modeling are reviewed: the tradition of distinct models for RTs and responses, and the tradition of model integration in which RTs are incorporated in response models or the other way around. Several conceptual issues underlying both traditions are made explicit and analyzed for their consequences. We…

A potential undesirable effect of multistage testing is differential speededness, which happens if some of the test takers run out of time because they receive subtests with items that are more time intensive than others. This article shows how a probabilistic response-time model can be used for estimating differences in time intensities and speed…

Item-pool management requires a balancing act between the input of new items into the pool and the output of tests assembled from it. A strategy for optimizing item-pool management is presented that is based on the idea of a periodic update of an optimal blueprint for the item pool to tune item production to test assembly. A simulation study with…

In test assembly, a fundamental difference exists between algorithms that select a test sequentially or simultaneously. Sequential assembly allows us to optimize an objective function at the examinee's ability estimate, such as the test information function in computerized adaptive testing. But it leads to the non-trivial problem of how to realize…

Preventing items in adaptive testing from being over- or underexposed is one of the main problems in computerized adaptive testing. Though the problem of overexposed items can be solved using a probabilistic item-exposure control method, such methods are unable to deal with the problem of underexposed items. Using a system of rotating item pools,…

A statistical test for the detection of answer copying on multiple-choice tests is presented. The test is based on the idea that the answers of examinees to test items may be the result of three possible processes: (1) knowing, (2) guessing, and (3) copying, but that examinees who do not have access to the answers of other examinees can arrive at…

Proposes an algorithm for the assembly of multiple test forms in which the multiple-form problem is reduced to a series of computationally less intensive two-form problems. Illustrates how the method can be implemented using 0-1 linear programming and gives two examples. (SLD)