Two dimensions of tests: Psychometric and edumetric.

Abstract

Notes that because of design and development techniques, most tests focus upon either between-individual differences or within-individual gain. These 2 primary dimensions of tests have been called psychometric and edumetric. The psychometric dimension has been focused upon traditionally, so that most of the standardized tests being used to measure gain or growth have not been developed or evaluated from an edumetric standpoint. The danger inherent in this practice is that a treatment effect may appear to be small or insignificant simply because the test was designed to be sensitive to individual differences rather than gain. The differences between psychometric and edumetric dimensions on the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (Reading) are compared with respect to the purpose of the test, item selection, reliability, validity, and interpretation of scores. (15 ref)

Evaluating the TOEFL Junior® Standard Test as a Measure of Progress for Young English Language Learners

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“…horsepower = "horse" + "power" (Gunning, 1952). The use of the GFI for this study's purpose is validated by its widespread use across a variety of disciplines for over forty years (Schlief & Wood;1974;Strong, 1986;Wong, 1999). GFI is measured thus: G = .4*(W/S + ((C/W)*100)), where G = grade level, W = number of words, C = number of complex words, and S = number of sentences.…”