Prior research has shown that test takers use a variety of strategies when taking passage-based reading comprehension tests. The specific effects that these alternative strategies have on actual examinee test performance are largely unknown. Evidence suggesting that performance differences exist across testing conditions would imply that the…

Compared performance of two polytomous item response theory models to that of the dichotomous three-parameter logistic model in equating tests composed of testlets using data from 6 tests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (samples of 537 to 680 eighth graders). Results of the equating method based on polytomous models produced results that more…

This study investigated the effect of extended-time limits in terms of performance levels and score comparability for reading comprehension scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The first part of the study compared the average reading comprehension scores on the ITBS of 61 sixth-graders with learning disabilities and 397 non learning…