Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons^™

2. Legal And Professional Bases For Licensure Testing, William A. Mehrens

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

In this chapter the author presents the legal setting for licensure testing, I discusses the role of various professional standards and codes (i.e., the EEOC Uniform Guidelines, 1978, and the AERA/APA/NCME Standards, 1985), presents some of the pertinent rulings from several court decisions, and makes inferences about future changes in professional standards and their potential impact on licensure test development.

There necessarily is some minor overlap with the material in this chapter and some other chapters in this book. There is a brief discussion of the differences between licensure, certification. and employment testing and how those differences relate …

5. Systematic Item Writing And Test Construction, Anthony Laduca, Steven M. Downing, Thomas R. Henzel

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Standardized objective testing remains the most popular mode of licensure testing. Even where other types of tests are incorporated, it is often the case that they are provided as complimentary to standardized, multiple-choice (MC) tests. Moreover, scoring theories and standard-setting procedures have been developed over the years in the context of standardized MC testing. At the same time, critics have pointed to limitations of contemporary MC testing practices, including lack of fidelity to real-life challenges and emphasis on recall of factual minutiae. In our view, testing professionals should make conscientious attempts to modify test development procedures so as to address …

3. Policy Issues With Psychometric Implications, Michael Rosenfeld, Richard F. J. Tannenbaum, Scott Wesley

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Testing candidates with disabilities, testing repeaters, and coaching involve issues of fairness, the validity of the inferences made from test scores, and protection of the public. Licensing boards must develop policies to deal with each of these issues. It is interesting to note that although all three are of concern to licensing agencies, little of the research on these topics has been conducted in licensure settings. This chapter discusses the results of research conducted on each topic, considers the psychometric implications for policy of each, and suggests steps licensing boards can take when formulating policy.

TESTING CANDIDATES WITH DISABILITIES IN …

1. What Is Licensure, Kara Schmitt

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

When most individuals hear the terms license and licensure, their first reaction is that these are easily understood and relatively simple words. Everyone knows what these terms mean. Or do they?

What is licensure? It is a multifaceted, complex governmental system of regulation with the stated purpose being public protection. According to Webster's dictionary (Guralnik, 1976), a license is defined as "a formal permission to do something: esp., authorization by law to do some specified thing (license to marry, practice medicine, hunt, etc.)." The term Licensure is then defined to mean "the act or practice of granting licenses, …

Section Three Emerging Practices

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

No abstract provided.

8. Item Banking, Betty A. Bergstrom, Richard C. Gershon

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Item banks developed by licensure agencies range from a collection of items stored on index cards to highly sophisticated electronic databases. Regardless of the storage mechanism, most banks contain items that have been organized and referenced according to procedures established by the licensure agency. This chapter outlines useful practices for building and maintaining a computerized item bank. We address storage of item text, graphics, and statistical history. We deal with the creation of paper-and-pencil and computerized tests from an item bank and the use of Item Response Theory (lRT) to calibrate and equate item banks. New directions in item banking …

Subject Index

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Subject Index listed A-Z (8 pages)

A

a parameter: 299-300, 303, 305-306, 314
absolute standard procedure: 329
absolute standards: 222-223
accuracy of the inference: 150
Adaptive Mastery Testing (AMT): 298,305
advisory committee: 100-101 , 103-105,111- 112
AERA/APA/NCME Standards: 33,37-43, 53, 55 , 66, 68, 72, 84, 94, 11 4, 118, 122, 137-138,168, 170- 171,179,185, 236, 248, 254-255, 26 1, 281
all -in-one requirement: 155
alternate-choice: 120
alternate-choice multiple choice: 324
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): 22-23, 43, 54-55, 60-6 1, 63, 65, 68-70, 297
amplified objective: 129,147
amplified objective method: 129
analysis of variance (ANaYA): 153
anchor items: …

12. Computerized Testing In Licensure, C. David Vale

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Computerized testing has come out of the laboratory and into the field. By rough estimates, over a million licensure and certification examinations are currently given by computer each year, and the number is rising. Computerized testing is not appropriate for every application, however. Computerized tests always result in significantly greater direct costs than paper-and-pencil tests. To justify their use, a computerized test must result in a net dollar saving. This means that something in the process of computerization must offer a cost reduction that more than offsets the direct cost of computerization. The purpose of this chapter is to identify …

Author Index

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Authors listed A-Z (8 pages)

A

Ader, H. 1. : 2 10,2 18
Ahluwalia, N. T.: 240, 25 1, 330, 344
Aitkin, M.: 262, 267, 282
AI-Dosary, I. M.: 28 1, 282
AI-Karni , A.: 27 1, 28 1, 282
Albanese, M. A.: 125, 138,324,341
Alexander, R. A.: 225, 250
Algin a, 1.: 256, 283
Allen, D. L.: 158, 164
American Counci l on Education: 167, 185
American Educational Research Association: 33,37,38,39,40, 41 , 42,43,53,55,66, 68,72,84,94, 11 4, 11 8, 122,137, 138, 168, 170, 17 1, 179, 185, 236, 248, 254, 255,26 1,28 1
American Psychological Association: 33, 37, 38,39,40, …

10. Establishing Passing Standards, Craig N. Mills

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

INTRODUCTION

When tests are used to determine eligibility for a license, a passing standard or cut score must be established that divides the test scores into two categories: eligible for license or not. Standard setting has been widely researched and there are many reviews available (see, for example, Jaeger, 1989; Mills & Melican, 1988; Berk, 1986; Hambleton, 1980; Hambleton & Eignor, 1980; and Shepard, 1980a, 1980b), yet there is limited practical advice available for conducting standard setting studies and establishing standards. The one available resource (Livingston & Zieky, 1982) is somewhat dated. The purpose of this chapter is to provide …

9. Differential Item Functioning In Licensure Tests, Barbara S. Plake

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

When test scores are used to make important decisions, as is typically the case with licensure tests, the validity of test score interpretations is extremely critical. The validity of the decision (e.g., pass or fail the licensure examination) relies heavily on the validity of the test score that is used in making the licensure decision. So, although validity is always a critical component in test score interpretation, it has increased importance when the score is used in high-stakes decision situations such as licensure testing.

Issues in validity for licensure tests have been addressed in Chapter 4 of this volume. The …

13. Future Psychometric Practices In Licensure Testing, Steven S. Nettles

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

New technologies continue to emerge each year, and influence testing practices. In particular, in the last 10 years the personal computer has evolved from a curious and minimally useful tool to an indispensable partner in many certification and licensure testing programs. It is involved in every aspect- including candidate scheduling, test assembly, test administration, test scoring and analysis, and score reporting. Initially, it is used to determine the content to be included in the job analysis instrument, and later, to analyze the returned surveys. After the job analysis is completed and test specifications prepared, it can be used to bank …

11. Equating, Judy A. Shea, John J. Norcini

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

INTRODUCTION

Testing programs nearly always need examinations that measure the same thing, but are composed of different questions (i .e., alternate forms of the same test). When different questions are used, however, there is no assurance that scores on the forms are equivalent; different sets of items might be easier or harder and, therefore, produce higher or lower scores. Equating is used to overcome this problem. Simply stated, it is the design and statistical procedure that permits scores on one form of a test to be comparable to scores on an alternate form.

A hypothetical example will help explain why …

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, And Practices [Complete Work], James C. Impara, Linda L. Murphy

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices

Licensure Testing: Purposes, Procedures, and Practices (374 pages)

Copyright © 1995 by Buros Institute of Mental Measurements All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, retrieval system, or any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Buros Institute of Mental Measurements 135 Bancroft Hall University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-0348

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

The Relationship Between Dropout And Peer Mentoring In An Adult High School Completion Program, Jo Ann Pastor

Dissertations

Adult education encompasses a broad spectrum of institutions and activities which share a universal problem of retaining participants. Dropouts from adult high school completion programs are at a particular disadvantage economically. The literature is inconclusive on the causes of or remedies for program attrition. Although mentoring has been promoted and researched as a component of adult development, its use as a dropout prevention strategy for adult high school completion students is not reported in the literature.

An experimental study was conducted to test the relationship between peer mentoring and the dropout rate in an adult high school completion program. The …

The Certification Of Training And Development Professionals: Employers' Perception Of Problem Prevalence And Certification's Efficacy, Susan Lynn Atchison-Day

Dissertations

The certification of training and development (HRD) professionals is under consideration by professional training associations. Certification programs can be advantageous; however, they are also costly and present potentially undesirable side effects. Therefore, verifying the worth of a certification program is a logical prerequisite to design and implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the problems for which intervention, through a certification program, might be needed and the ability of certification to meet the need.

This study gathered data to determine whether companies: (a) had experienced common problems for which certification might be a solution; (b) viewed certification as …

An Introspective Workshop On The Teaching/Learning Process, Prentiss Wharton Phillips

MA TESOL Collection

This is a course outline for a 16+hour teacher-training workshop. It is designed for about 16 participants. The purpose of the workshop is to engage teachers and prospective teachers in the processes of self evaluation, goal formation and the development/application of more effective ways to teach. This is done through a series of introspective/extra-spective exercises based on four central questions:

What kind of teacher are you now? What is teaching/learning? How do you want to be as a teacher? How can you reach your objectives?

These questions are systematically explored in four corresponding units. Some of the questions are worked …

Placement And Career Service, Marjorie Popkin

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.