Montero, D. ; Wang, J. ect. (2003). Investigation of the Application of Cognitive Diagnostic Testing to an End-of-Course High School Examination. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education, Chicago, April 22-24, 2003.

Abstract: Large-scale state-developed assessments for high school students, such as end-of course and high school exit examinations, are developed to meet test specifications (blueprints) that are based on the content standards set by each state department of education. The test specifications describe the knowledge and skills that the test will measure and specify the number and type of questions to be included in the test for each of the assessed standards. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible application of the principles of cognitive diagnostic testing to a high school exit examination. First, we will obtain item parameters based on the cognitive diagnostic model and evaluate the relationship between the items on the test and the identified skills as defined by the test blueprint. Second, we will compare judgmental methods of reporting mastery by standard to the cognitive diagnostic method.