Measurement Efficiency for Technology-Enhanced and Multiple-Choice Items in a K–12 Mathematics Accountability Assessment

The increasing use of computerization in the testing industry and the need for items potentially measuring higher-order skills have led educational measurement communities to develop technology-enhanced (TE) items and conduct validity studies on the use of TE items. Parallel to this goal, the purpose of this study was to collect validity evidence comparing item information functions, expected information values, and measurement efficiencies (item information per time unit) between multiple-choice (MC) and technology-enhanced (TE) items. The data came from K–12 mathematics large-scale accountability assessments. The study results were mainly interpreted descriptively, and the presence of specific patterns between MC and TE items was examined across grades and depth of knowledge levels. Although many earlier researchers pointed out that TE items were not as efficient as MC items, the results from the study point to ways that TE items might provide more information and were more than or equally efficient as MC items overall.