Methods and Models for the Construction of Weakly Parallel Tests

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Abstract
Several methods are proposed for the construc tion of weakly parallel tests [i.e., tests with the same test information function (TIF)]. A mathematical programming model that constructs tests containing a prespecified TIF and a heuristic that assigns items to tests with information func tions that are equal are important components of these methods. Numerical examples demonstrate that tests can be constructed quickly and that the heuristic produces good results. However, the heuristic is not applicable for every set of practical constraints (e.g., constraints with respect to test administration time, test composition, or depend encies between items).