The psychometric characteristics of the Test of Written English (TWE) rating scale were investigated with Rasch model scalar analysis methodology. The data were more than 4,000 scored TWE essays across two prompts. Results suggested that the intervals between TWE scale steps were surprisingly uniform, and the size of the intervals was appropriately larger than the error associated with assignment of individual ratings. The proportion of positively misfitting essays was small (approximately 1% of all essays analyzed) and approximately equal to the proportion of essays that required adjudication by a third reader. This latter finding, along with the low proportion of misfitting readers detected, provided preliminary evidence of the feasibility of employing Rasch rating scale analysis methodology for the equating of TWE essays prepared across prompts. Some information on characteristics of misfitting readers was discovered that could be useful in the reader training process. (Excerpted from The Researcher, Spring 1992)
The Test of Written English, G Henning … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1992, 6:3 p. 243
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