Computer-Based Testing

A Brief History

As the capability and preponderance of computers evolved during the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st century, so has the nature and impact of CBT evolved. In the early 1970s, computerized testing was primarily found in university research institutions, using CBT delivered through mainframe computers. In the late 1970s, advances in item response theory (IRT) led to the first research on computerized adaptive test (CAT), a particular type of CBT that is highly interactive, conducted primarily at the University of Minnesota and Educational Testing Service.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of the first operational computer-based tests. Most notably, in the 1980s, the U.S. Department of Defense developed the CAT version of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and the Northwest Evaluation Association introduced the first adaptive testing program for U.S. school children, Measures of Academic Progress. In the early 1990s, Educational Testing Service began offering CBT versions of the Graduate Record Exam. This time period also saw the development of numerous smaller scale computer-based tests in educational settings, most of which were computerized versions of preexisting paper-and-pencil tests. The 1990s also saw the first major advances in innovative item development, as researchers began to more fully exploit the capabilities of CBT.

In the early 21st century, CBT became more common in education, as computer technology gained increasing sophistication and the availability of computers in schools increased. Moreover, the emergence of the Internet brought with it increasing expectations that CBT would be delivered online. As of 2015, CBT was successfully being used in the majority of U.S. statewide K–12 testing programs, although online large-scale CBT showed uneven reliability.

Advantages

CBT offers a set of important advantages over paper-and-pencil tests. Some of these advantages influence the quality of measurement, while others favorably influence the costs and logistics of test administration.