Measurement, Sampling, and Equating Errors in Large-Scale Assessments
Wu, Margaret (2010) Measurement, Sampling, and Equating Errors in Large-Scale Assessments. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 29 (4). pp. 15-27. ISSN 0731-1745 (print) 1745-3992 (online)
Abstract
In large-scale assessments, such as state-wide testing programs, national sample-based assessments, and international comparative studies, there are many steps involved in the measurement and reporting of student achievement. There are always sources of inaccuracies in each of the steps. It is of interest to identify the source and magnitude of the errors in the measurement process that may threaten the validity of the final results. Assessment designers can then improve the assessment quality by focusing on areas that pose the highest threats to the results.This paper discusses the relative magnitudes of three main sources of error with reference to the objectives of assessment programs: measurement error, sampling error, and equating error. A number of examples from large-scale assessments are used to illustrate these errors and their impact on the results. The paper concludes by making a number of recommendations that could lead to an improvement of the accuracies of large-scale assessment results.
Dimensions Badge
Altmetric Badge
Item type | Article |
URI | https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/8960 |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1745-3992.2010.00190.x |
Official URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-... |
Subjects | Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > Work-Based Education Research Centre (WERC) Historical > FOR Classification > 1303 Specialist Studies in Education |
Keywords | ResPubID23137, equating error, large-scale assessments, measurement error, sampling error |
Citations in Scopus | 54 - View on Scopus |
Download/View statistics | View download statistics for this item |