Award Date

5-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology

Department

Educational Psychology

First Committee Member

Alice J. Corkill, Chair

Second Committee Member

Gregory Schraw

Third Committee Member

CarolAnne Kardash

Graduate Faculty Representative

Mark Ashcraft

Number of Pages

448

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a set of procedures to establish readability, including an equation, that accommodates the multiple-choice item format and occupational-specific language related to credentialing examinations. The procedures and equation should be appropriate for learning materials, examination materials, and occupational materials. To this end, variance in readability estimates accounted for by combinations of semantic and syntactic variables were explored, a method was devised to accommodate occupational-specific vocabulary, and new-model readability formulas were created and calibrated. Existing readability formulas were then recalibrated with the same materials used to calibrate the new-model formulas. The new-model and recalibrated formulas were then applied to sample items extracted from a professional licensing examination and the results were compared.

Keywords

Certification testing; Construct-irrelevant variance; Credential testing; Licensure testing; Readability

Disciplines

Educational Psychology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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