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Equivalency and Linkage of Educational Tests Interim Report (1998) / Chapter Skim
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Coming to Terms: Assumptions, Definitions, and Goals of Linkage
Pages 6-11

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From page 6...
... on the details of the tests themselves anc3 on their relationship to the educational experiences of the test takers. In the dynamic situation of educational reform today, the relevant subpopulations may even include those students to be tested in the next few years for whom there are no data currently available in a linking study clone today.
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From page 7...
... These linkages frequently involve tests that are intenciec3 to be equated anc3 are therefore created to identical specifications; are highly similar in content emphasis, difficulty, anc3 format; are equally reliable; anc3 are expected to be aciministerec3 uncier the same conditions. Equating different forms of college admissions tests by the College Board or the American College Testing Program are examples of this type of linkage.
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From page 8...
... For example, CTB/McGraw Hill has linked the Califor' nia Test of Basic Skills with its newer Terra Nova test; Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement has linked the Stanford Achievement Test 8 with the Stanford Achievement Test 9; Riverside Publishing has linked the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills M with earlier versions of the test. Sometimes the test specifications may have changed in response to shifts in educational emphases, and the old and new versions will not be as similar as two different versions of a test made to the same specifications; however, old and new versions can generally be successfully calibrated and put on the same scale.
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From page 9...
... Procedures that match distributions using scores are called statistical moderation links, while others that match distributions using subjective judgments are referred to as social moderation links. In either case, the resulting links are only valid for making some very general comparisons (Mislevy, 1992; Linn, 1993~.
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From page 10...
... For example, in linking to produce aggregate summary statistics for school districts or schools it is reasonable to incorporate important demographic information about the test takers into the linking function; such information wouIcl not be appropriate when reporting linkecl scores for inclivicluals. DISTINCT CHARACTER OF NAEP NAEP is a periodically aciministerec3, federally sponsored survey of a nationally representative sample of American students that assesses student achievement in key subjects.
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From page 11...
... Thus, the portion of NAEP any one student takes is unlikely to be comparable in content to the full knowledge domain covered by an incliviclual test taker in a state or commercial test (see, e.g., U.S. Department of Education, 1997; National Research Council, 1996; Beaton and Gonzalez, 1995; U.S.
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Key Terms

  • anchor test
  • achievement test
  • original tests
  • stanford achievement
  • linking function

  • student achievement
  • testing programs
  • educational measurement
  • basic skills
  • sufficiently accurate

  • brace educational
  • entire score
  • iowa tests
  • naep content
  • harcourt brace

  • relevant subpopulations
  • temperature measurement
  • typically shorter
  • projecting test
  • onto test

  • fahrenheit scale
  • test publisher
  • linked scores
  • students takes
  • equipercentile equating

  • score distribution
  • moderation links
  • student performance
  • school districts
  • match distributions


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