Item Clusters and Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Case for Testlets

12 September 1987

journal article
Published by Wiley in Journal of Educational Measurement

Vol. 24 (3) , 185-201
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3984.1987.tb00274.x

Abstract

It is observed that many sorts of difficulties may preclude the uneventful construction of tests by a computerized algorithm, such as those currently in favor in Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT). In this essay we discuss a number of these problems, as well as some possible avenues of solution. We conclude with the development of the “testlet,” a bundle of items that can be arranged either hierarchically or linearly, thus maintaining the efficiency of an adaptive test while keeping the quality control of test construction that is possible currently only with careful expert scrutiny. Performance on the separate testlets is aggregated to yield ability estimates.

Keywords

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