ITEMS - Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement Series

Regardless whether you are a user of educational measurement technology or teach courses in educational and psychological measurement, if you want to read relatively brief overview modules on select measurement topics, you should check out the free on-line NCME ITEMS modules.  The goal of ITEMS is to improve the understanding of educational measurement principles by providing brief instructional units on timely topics in the field, modules developed for use by college faculty and students as well as by workshop leaders and participants.  ITEMS are a product provided by the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME)

Below is information I lifted from the NCME ITEMS web page:

Instructional modules are designed to be learner-oriented and consist of an abstract, tutorial content, exercises, and annotated references. The teaching aids accompanying most modules are designed to support the use of the instructional modules in teaching and workshop settings by providing supplemental student exercises, references, test items, and figures or masters for transparencies.

The ITEMS modules can be downloaded as PDF files below (you can use Adobe Reader to view them).

• Introduction & Module 1, Fall 1987: Design and Development of Performance Assessment.
  Richard J. Stiggins
• Teaching Aids, Module 1
• Module 2, Winter 1987: Obtaining Intended Weights When Combining Students' Scores.
  Albert C. Oosterhof
• Teaching Aids, Module 2
• Module 3, Spring 1988: Reliability of Scores From Teacher-Made Tests.
  David A. Frisbie
• Teaching Aids, Module 3
• Module 4, Summer 1988: Formula Scoring of Multiple-Choice Tests (Correction for Guessing).
  Robert B. Frary
• Teaching Aids, Module 4
• Module 5, Fall 1988: Using CRTs in Program Curriculum Evaluation.
  Steven J. Osterlind
• Teaching Aids, Module 5
• Module 6, Winter 1988: Traditional Equating Methodology.
  Michael J. Kolen
• Teaching Aids, Module 6
• Module 7, Spring 1989: Comparison of 1-, 2-, and 3-Parameter IRT Models.
  Deborah Harris
• Teaching Aids, Module 7
• Module 8, Spring 1991: Understanding Reliability.
  Ross E. Traub, Glenn L. Rowley
• Module 9, Summer 1991: Standard Error of Measurement.
  Leo M. Harvill
• Module 10, Fall 1991: IRT Equating Methods.
  Linda L. Cook, Daniel R. Eignor
• Module 11, Spring 1992: Using Portfolios of Student Work in Instruction and Assessment.
  Judith A. Arter, Vicki Spandel
• Module 12, Summer 1992: High Quality Classroom Assessment: What Does it Really Mean?
  Richard Stiggins
• Module 13, Fall 1992: Developing a Personal Grading Plan.
  David A. Frisbie, Kristie K. Waltman
• Module 14, Winter 1992: Generalizability Theory.
  Robert L. Brennan
• Module 15, Spring 1993: Assessing Student Achievement With Term Papers and Written Reports.
  Susan M. Brookhart
• Teaching Aids, Module 15
• Module 16, Fall 1993: Comparison of Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory and Their Application to Test Development.
  Ronald K. Hambleton, Russell W. Jones
• Module 17, Spring 1994: Guidelines for Development of Item Banks.
  Annie W. Ward, Mildred Murray-Ward
• ITEMS Feedback Questionnaire
• Standard-Setting Guidelines.
  Gregory J. Cizek
• Using Statistical Procedures to Identify Differentially Functioning Test Items.
  Brian E. Clauser, Kathleen M. Mazor
• Using Multidimensional Item Response Theory to Evaluate Educational and Psychological Tests.
  Terry A. Ackerman, Mark J. Gierl, Cindy M. Walker
• Exploring the Logic of Tatsuoka's Rule-Space Model for Test Development and Analysis.
  Mark J. Gierl, Jacqueline P. Leighton, Stephen M. Hunka
• Setting Performance Standards: Contemporary Methods.
  Gregory J. Cizek, Michael B. Bunch, Heather Koons

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, education, measurement, NCME, ITEMS, statistics, psychometrics

ITEMS: Ed measurement/statistics web-based instructional modules

I just read about the ITEM project in the latest issue of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. All school-based assessment professionals might want to take a look and see....the materials may be useful in educating others about what scores mean, what they do and don't tell us, and what score differences mean.

Project Description from ITEMS web page (emphasis and links added by IQ's Corner blogmaster)

• In the current No Child Left Behind era, K-12 teachers and administrators are expected to have a sophisticated understanding of standardized test results, use them to improve instruction, and communicate them to others. Many educators, however, have never had the opportunity to acquire the "assessment literacy" required for these roles. The goal of the ITEMS project, directed by Rebecca Zwick of the University of California Santa Barbara, was to develop and evaluate three Web-based instructional modules in educational measurement and statistics to address this training gap. We created three 25-minute modules: "What's the Score?" (2005), "What Test Scores Do and Don't Tell Us" (2006), and "What's the Difference?" (2007). Overall, 250 K-12 teachers and administrators participated in our research, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the modules in communicating educational measurement and statistics concepts, especially for teacher education students. Our modules are now freely available on our website, http://items.education.ucsb.edu, in low- and high-bandwidth versions, with optional closed captioning. Also posted are supplementary materials, including glossaries, formulas, reference lists, and quizzes corresponding to each module. The provision of this training in a convenient and economical way is intended to assist schools with the successful implementation and interpretation of assessments. Several school districts have let us know they are using the materials, and at least one teacher education program has incorporated them into its curriculum.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, educational testing, educational measurement, statistics, testing, NCLB, test scores, psychometrics