Test Equating, Scaling, and Linking Methods and Practices

Test equating methods are used with many standardized tests in education and psychology to ensure that scores from multiple test forms can be used interchangeably. In recent years, researchers from the education, psychology, and statistics communities have contributed to the rapidly growing statistical and psychometric methodologies used in test equating. This book provides an introduction to test equating which both discusses the most frequently used equating methodologies and covers many of the practical issues involved.

This second edition expands upon the coverage of the first edition by providing a new chapter on test scaling and a second on test linking. Test scaling is the process of developing score scales that are used when scores on standardized tests are reported. In test linking, scores from two or more tests are related to one another. Linking has received much recent attention, due largely to investigations of linking similarly named tests from different test publishers or tests constructed for different purposes. The expanded coverage in the second edition also includes methodology for using polytomous item response theory in equating.

The themes of the second edition include:

* the purposes of equating, scaling and linking and their practical context

* data collection designs

* statistical methodology

* designing reasonable and useful equating, scaling, and linking studies

* importance of test development and quality control processes to equating

* equating error, and the underlying statistical assumptions for equating

Michael J. Kolen is a Professor of Educational Measurement at the University of Iowa. Robert L. Brennan is E. F. Lindquist Chair in Measurement and Testing and Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Measurement and Assessment at the University of Iowa. Both authors are acknowledged experts on test equating, scaling, and linking, they have authored numerous publications on these subjects, and they have taught many workshops and courses on equating. Both authors have been President of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and both received an NCME award for Outstanding Technical Contributions to Educational Measurement following publication of the first edition of this book. Professor Brennan received an NCME award for Career Contributions to Educational Measurement and authored Generalizability Theory published by Springer-Verlag.