The National Center Test (NCT) has been affected by the shrinking population of 18-year-olds and the increase in the number of participating private universities in the last quarter of a century. This study analyzes the changes in the usages of the NCT so as to capture the changes in its social roles and functions. First, the national analysis suggested that there were two layers of applicants: the core applicants whose number has rarely changed over the past 25 years and the new types of the applicants who utilized the NCT in different ways. Second, the ratio of applicants who took the NCT and universities to which they went were analyzed for each prefecture. In the results, regionally distinctive patterns indicated that the NCT was utilized differently in different regions. Furthermore, regionally predicted populations of 18-years-olds suggested that the admission system must be planned and future directions proposed from regional perspectives.

We propose a standard error of measurement for linked scores and the index of reliability for linked scores in order to enrich the indices used to analyze the feasibility of linking. Our proposed indices can be easily estimated by using basic statistics such as the variance of test scores, coefficient of reliability, and correlation coefficient. When a data collection design is a single group design, the proposed indices can be readily estimated by basic analysis of test results. Even with an equivalent groups design, if the inter-test correlation can be predicted then the proposed indices can be used. Furthermore, we present numerical examples that examine the feasibility of linking from a reliability perspective by using the proposed indices together with the results of actual large-scale tests. Through the examples, we showed that the proposed indices are useful for evaluating the reliability of linked scores and that they provide various indications for making decisions about the feasibility of linking.

The purpose of this paper is to propose new algorithms for computer adaptive test based on latent rank theory and to evaluate them by Monte Carlo simulation.

Result of the evaluation, the estimation error of the LRT-CAT using the new algorithms was 1.7%, 2.8%, 5.5%, 8.9% in the case of item bank of 50 items, 40 items, 30 items, 20 items, respectively. This indicates that computer adaptive test based on the latent rank theory using the item bank constructed with a small sample data where a computer adaptive test based on item response theory can not be applied can perform on a practical level.

We investigated characteristics and the accuracy of test scores that are assessed by the simplified computerized adaptive test (SCAT; Kumagai et al., 2012). For this purpose, we conducted a computer simulation study using the Rasch model. The study identified a center bias in outlying SCAT scores and as a result, the standard error of outlying SCAT was smaller. Moreover, the standard error of SCAT was smaller than that of fixed items tests.

Current Japanese universities cannot escape from conducting public relations targeted at potential university candidates. The origin of the need for public relations is rooted in the national policy to encourage the provision of information to university-bound students in order to help them choose their career course. However, the purpose of providing information about a university has been shifting toward the recruitment of freshman candidates. In Japan, research on this topic is just beginning. So far, the national universities have been the primary conductors of researcher on this topic, beginning in 2000, with a focus on assessing the effectiveness of public relations for the recruitment of favorable students. In the present study, we analyzed the responses to items concerning public relations of questionnaires given to the applicants for the “type II admissions office examinations” of the School of Engineering, Tohoku University, collected over a 10-year period. The results show that there is no difference in the responses with respect to the applicants’ hometown for the paper-or-on-line-based public relations activities. However, face-to-face activities were more effective for local applicants. Over the study period, public relations activities became increasingly important to the participants, although expanding these activities has imposed heavy loads on university faculties and staffs.