Reviews a book that provides useful information for those who must deal with the problem of cheating on tests. The book explains ethical and practical issues associated with cheating, the frequency with which it occurs, details of cheating methods, and detection of cheating. (SLD)

This volume describes the characteristics and functions of test items, presents editorial guidelines for writing test items, presents methods for determining the quality of test items, and presents a compendium of important issues about test items. (SLD)

Reports a reanalysis of data collected in a person x task x occasion rater or method G-study design (M. Ruiz-Primo and others, 1993), and brings this reanalysis to bear on the interpretation of task-sampling variability and the convergence of different performance-assessment methods. (SLD)

Yen and Burket suggested that shrinkage in vertical equating cannot be understood apart from multidimensionality. Reviews research on reliability, multidimensionality, and scale shrinkage, and explores issues of practical importance to educators. (SLD)

Comments on the application of a proposed automated test assembly (ATA) to the problem of reducing potential performance differential among population subgroups and points out some pitfalls. Presents a rejoinder by M. Stocking and others. (SLD)

This book provides a historical overview of item-response theory (IRT) and contains a compendium of item-response-theory research. Each of its six sections deals with a unique application of a model or a family of models. Requires a strong psychometric background to understand some of the discussions. (SLD)

The authors of the "Guidelines," a task force of eight, intend to present an organized list of features to be considered in reporting or evaluating computerized-adaptive assessments. Apart from a few weaknesses, the book is a useful and complete document that will be very helpful to test developers. (SLD)

This book is a collection of nine commissioned papers that consider the educational reform represented by performance assessments, their advantages and disadvantages, and the challenges of successful implementation. Both theoretical and practical issues are addressed. (SLD)

The five chapters of this report provide resources that deal with the validity, generalizability, comparability, performance standards, and fairness, equity, and bias of performance assessments. The book is written for experienced educational measurement practitioners, although an extensive familiarity with performance assessment is not required.…

This book is designed to be an instructional guide rather than a technical manual. For that reason, it provides a comprehensive and integrated overview of the procedures for detecting differential item functioning with citations to more technically detailed references. (SLD)

"Measuring Up" describes the current standards-based educational reform movement for a general audience and professionals who have not been involved in reform. The simplified perspective does not do justice to the complexity of reform issues in some contexts, but the case studies illustrating reform efforts are particularly useful. (SLD)

The four main subsystems of the MicroCAT Testing System for developing, administering, scoring, and analyzing computerized tests using conventional or item response theory methods are described. Judgments of three users of the system are included in the evaluation of this software. (SLD)

Rather than an unbiased accumulation of evidence, the work argues the authors' position, which includes advocating the use of achievement tests in the college admissions process. Arguments against use of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are primarily based on analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Study of 1972. (SLD)

The "Program Evaluation Standards" supplies a useful framework for generating questions to raise about any evaluation plan or evaluation report to assess its pros and cons. It is a valuable "how-to" for graduate students and professionals. This second edition incorporates changes in the field in the last decade. (SLD)

This guide for school administrators is written to promote careful and wise use of scores from standardized achievement tests. Authors of two sections particularly criticized in the review respond about what should be included in a primer on testing and interpreting test scores for compensatory education students. (SLD)