Progressive tests are a popular tailored test format where items are administered in increasing order of difficulty level and discontinued according to a rule system that should counter excessive response burden for test participants and guarantee efficient use of resources for test administrators.
To facilitate evidence-based decision-making for setting appropriate discontinue rules, we propose a transparent approach that charts the impact of varied alternative discontinue rules on accuracy and efficiency. These accuracy–efficiency charts are based on retroactively applying discontinue rules to normative item response data.
We show that a universal discontinue rule likely does not exist and that the optimal rule varies as a function of the desired efficiency-accuracy trade-off suitable for the intended test use and target population.
The proposed approach provides a pragmatic solution for practitioners, researchers, test developers, and test publishers to rethink the existing discontinue rules, systematically evaluate the alternatives, and set appropriate rules.
Chen, Jianan; Brinchmann, Ellen Irén & Braeken, Johan (2025). Setting Discontinue Rules for Progressive Tests: A Practical and Transparent Toolkit. Assessment (ASM). ISSN 1073-1911. doi: 10.1177/10731911251385776.