Automatic coding of short text responses opens new doors in assessment. We implemented and integrated baseline methods of natural language processing and statistical modelling by means of software components that are available under open licenses. The accuracy of automatic text coding is demonstrated by using data collected in the "Programme…

The selection of an appropriate booklet design is an important element of large-scale assessments of student achievement. Two design properties that are typically optimized are the "balance" with respect to the positions the items are presented and with respect to the mutual occurrence of pairs of items in the same booklet. The purpose…

Data from competence tests usually show a number of missing responses on test items due to both omitted and not-reached items. Different approaches for dealing with missing responses exist, and there are no clear guidelines on which of those to use. While classical approaches rely on an ignorable missing data mechanism, the most recently developed…

The usefulness of multidimensional adaptive testing (MAT) for the assessment of student literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was examined within a real data simulation study. The responses of N = 14,624 students who participated in the PISA assessments of the years 2000, 2003, and 2006 in Germany were used to…