Matthew Daniel's List: Testing and Assessment

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) procedures, in which items are selected based on the examinee's prior response history and an underlying measurement model of proficiency, have been developed to reduce testing time and examinee burden. However, their use in high-stakes testing contexts has been confined largely to admission, professional certification, and credentialing exams. Despite requests to use CAT in state testing programs, regulations of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation have prohibited their implementation for assessment of student academic achievement in reading, mathematics, and science.

Klein (8) recently reviewed the literature on automated scoring methods and presented results from a study comparing hand and machine scoring of college-level, open-ended items of the type found on the Collegiate Learning Assessment. Findings across studies using a variety of machine scoring methods consistently show comparability of human and machine scoring (0.85 score correspondence) at levels approximating the agreement between two human scorers (0.86) and sufficient to warrant using computerized scoring alone, or as an augmentation to human scoring.

Classroom instructional uses of assessments.

DIAGNOSER is an Internet-based tool that delivers continuous formative assessment and feedback to students and teachers (15, 16). The online assessment identifies problematic "facets" of students' thinking, then provides counterexamples and additional lessons.

Moreover, because simulations use multiple modalities and representations, students with diverse learning styles and language backgrounds may have better opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge than are possible in text-laden print tests.

A third important feature is going beyond annual, ondemand tests to multiple assessments distributed over time combined with timely reporting that offers teachers the opportunity to tailor instruction.