The Utility of Augmented Subscores in a Licensure Exam: An Evaluation of Methods Using Empirical Data |
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| Authors: | Gautam Puhan Sandip Sinharay Shelby Haberman Kevin Larkin |
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| Institution: | 1. Educational Testing Service , Princeton, New Jersey, USA qpuhan@ets.org;3. Educational Testing Service , Princeton, New Jersey, USA |
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| Abstract: | Will subscores provide additional information than what is provided by the total score? Is there a method that can estimate more trustworthy subscores than observed subscores? To answer the first question, this study evaluated whether the true subscore was more accurately predicted by the observed subscore or total score. To answer the second question, three subscore estimation methods (i.e., subscore estimated from the observed subscore, total score, or a combination of both the subscore and total score) were compared. Analyses were conducted using data from six licensure tests. Results indicated that reporting subscores at the examinee level may not be necessary as they did not provide much additional information over what is provided by the total score. However, at the institutional level (for institution size ≥ 30), reporting subscores may not be harmful, although they may be redundant because the subscores were predicted equally well by the observed subscores or total scores. Finally, results indicated that estimating the subscore using a combination of observed subscore and total score resulted in the highest reliability. |
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