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The Hotspot – Why, When, and How to Use this Item Type

January 27, 2016  | By  | 

Overview In a Hotspot (HS) item the examinee responds to the question by clicking directly on an image. This is often a... View Article




What is a Test Security Plan?

January 20, 2016  | By  | 

A test security plan is a comprehensive collection of policies, procedures, and documents that outline and guide actions related to test security. From the development of an exam’s blueprint to the reporting of scores, test security touches nearly every aspect of test development and the testing process. Trust is a prerequisite to interpreting scores, and without evidence to support the integrity and veracity of scores, trust is compromised. Without trust, credibility is compromised.




Selecting the Right Rating Scales for Evaluating Job Analysis Tasks

January 14, 2016  | By  | 

The first step in developing a credentialing exam is to conduct a job/task analysis (JTA).  A job/task analysis refers to the... View Article




Translating Item Analyses into Meaningful Discussions

January 7, 2016  | By  | 

As testing professionals, we are often communicating statistical information about items on examination forms to stakeholders involved in the examination process. This information includes a range of topics such as item difficulty and discrimination as well as simple multiple choice item option frequencies.  While it is clear to those of us in the field of certification and licensure what these statistical properties mean, they can be less clear to those stakeholders who only encounter them during an exam committee meeting or even a board meeting.  It is our responsibility as testing professionals to demystify these numbers and provide a meaningful discussion on the relevance and importance of the data examinations yield.