ON THE RELATIVE VALUE OF MULTIPLE-CHOICE, CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE, AND EXAMINEE-SELECTED ITEMS ON 2 ACHIEVEMENT-TESTS

Using analyses based on fitting item response models to data from the College Board's Advanced Placement exams in chemistry and United State s history, we found that the constructed response portion of the tests yielded little information over and above that provided by the multip le-choice sections. These tests also allow examinees to select subsets of the constructed response items; we found that scoring on the basis of the selections themselves provided almost as much information as d id scoring on the basis of the answers.