A Successful Application of Latent Trait Theory to Tailored Achievement Testing

摘要

A live tailored achievement testing study was conducted to compare procedures based on the one- and three-parameter logistic models. Previous studies, investigating the application of these models to achievement testing, have yielded inconclusive results because of methodological problems. Close scrutiny of these investigations indicated two problems that apparently contributed to the ambiguous results. One problem was the procedures by which item calibrations were linked, and the other problem was in the item selection procedures. This second problem concerned stepsize, points of entry into the item pools, and information cutoff levels. The objective of the current study was to compare the one- and three-parameter logistic models using the improved procedures. A total of 88 students enrolled in an introductory measurement course at the University of Missouri-Columbia served as examinees for the study. A counterbalanced test-retest design was employed, in which there were two separate test sessions one week apart for each examinee.