An Electronic Infrastructure for a Future Generation of Tests. Research Report.

The Educational Testing Service is moving rapidly to computerize its tests for admissions to postsecondary education and occupational licensure/certification. Computerized tests offer important advantages, including immediate score reporting, the convenience of testing when the examinee wishes, and for adaptive tests, equal accuracy throughout the score scale and a shorter test with no loss in measurement proficiency. There is much more that technology can achieve, however. This paper describes an electronic infrastructure for integrating the best of traditional testing approaches with new technology. This multiorganizational infrastructure has the potential to help assessment contribute more positively to learning and decision making. It can do this by making it easier to deliver tests that employ performance tasks, include important skills not well-measured by current examinations, sample behavior frequently over a student's school career, and give instructionally useful feedback to individuals. (Contains 17 references.) (Author)