An accurately calibrated item bank is essential for a valid computerized adaptive test. However, in some settings, such as organizational testing, there is limited access to test takers for calibration. As a result of the limited access to possible test takers, collecting data to accurately calibrate an item bank is usually difficult. In such a setting, the item bank can be calibrated online in...

The Cognitive Science Research group at ETS conducts research and development at the forefront of educational assessment, using cognitive theory in the design of assessments, building cognitive models to guide interpretation of test-takers’ performance, and researching cognitive issues in the context of assessment. Moving beyond traditional (e.g., multiple-choice) tests, the group investigates ...

Background Large-scale assessments in education are typically administered using multiple test forms or booklets in which the same items are presented in different positions or locations within the forms. The main purpose of this practice is to improve test security by reducing the possibility of cheating among test takers (Debeer and Janssen 2013). This practice also helps test developers admi...

Cut scores are test scores used in mastery testing and in certification tests to identify those test takers who appear to have achieved at a predetermined level of proficiency. Cut scores are often used to differentiate test takers on a passfail basis. This paper takes up points raised by Berk (2000), discussing the use of reliability and error indices which are particularly appropriate for tes...

Multiple-choice tests play a large role in determining academic and professional outcomes. Performance on these tests hinges not only on a test-taker’s knowledge of the material but also on his willingness to guess when unsure about the answer. In this paper, we present the results of an experiment that explores whether women skip more questions than men. The experimental test consists of pract...

The main concern of the present study is to probe the relationship between note-taking strategy and students' listening comprehension (LC) ability. To conduct the study, a language proficiency test was administered to the undergraduate students majoring in English Translation at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz and sixty students were selected to enter into the next phase of the experiment. T...