Conditional Item-Exposure Control in Adaptive Testing Using Item-Ineligibility Probabilities

Abstract

Two conditional versions of the exposure-control method with item-ineligibility constraints for adaptive testing in van der Linden and Veldkamp (2004 ) are presented. The first version is for unconstrained item selection, the second for item selection with content constraints imposed by the shadow-test approach. In both versions, the exposure rates of the items are controlled using probabilities of item ineligibility given θ that adapt the exposure rates automatically to a goal value for the items in the pool. In an extensive empirical study with an adaptive version of the Law School Admission Test, the authors show how the method can be used to drive conditional exposure rates below goal values as low as 0.025. Obviously, the price to be paid for minimal exposure rates is a decrease in the accuracy of the ability estimates. This trend is illustrated with empirical data.