No Adult Left Behind, Either: Creating Large-Scale Computer-Based Tests for Adult Basic Education Students

摘要: Testing to chart student performance and to hold schools and districts accountable is everywhere in K-12 school systems in the United States today. These accountability and student assessment demands are equally strong in adult basic education (ABE), even though such assessments receive relatively less attention from policy makers and psychometricians. In Massachusetts, efforts to accurately and validly measure what adult learners know and can do has led to the process of creating tests that 1) are aligned to the state’s ABE curriculum frameworks (ie, criterion-referenced), 2) contain content appropriate for adult learners, and 3) use computer-based testing technology to tailor the tests to adult learning levels and to provide accurate measurement throughout a large achievement continuum. The vision underlying the development of these new tests centers on recruitment and involvement of ABE teachers and administrators throughout the state. This strategy enables teachers and others to take some ownership of the testing program and formalizes the link between assessment and instruction. The purpose of this paper is to describe aspects of the process of developing computerized tests from both psychometric and practical perspectives, with particular discussion of efforts to ensure teacher involvement, curricular relevance, and measurement precision using an innovative computer-based testing design.