APPLICATION OF COMPUTERIZED ADAPTIVE TESTING TO EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS

Three applications of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to help solve problems encountered in educational settings are described and discussed. Each of these applications makes use of item response theory to select test questions from an item pool to estimate a student's achievement level and its precision. These estimates may then be used in conjunction with certain testing strategies to facilitate certain educational decisions. The three applications considered are (a) adaptive mastery testing for determining whether or not a student has mastered a particular content area, (b) adaptive grading for assigning grades to students, and (c) adaptive self‐referenced testing for estimating change in a student's achievement level. Differences between currently used classroom procedures and these CAT procedures are discussed. For the adaptive mastery testing procedure, evidence from a series of studies comparing conventional and adaptive testing procedures is presented showing that the adaptive procedure results in more accurate mastery classifications than do conventional mastery tests, while using fewer test questions.