Presents a unified concept of test validity that integrates both the scientific and ethical considerations of test interpretation and use. Argues that the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of score-based inferences are inseparable, and that this integration is based on construct validity. (FMW)

Validity is an integrated evaluative judgment of the degree to which empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy and appropriateness of interpretations and actions based on test scores or other modes of assessment. The principles of validity apply not just to interpretive and action inferences derived from test scores as…

Six distinguishable aspects of construct validity are discussed as they apply to performance assessment, emphasizing content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential aspects. Taken together, these aspects provide a way to address validity questions in score interpretation and use. (SLD)

The construct validity of content standards is addressed in terms of their representative coverage of a construct domain and their alignment with the students' cognitive level of developing expertise in the subject matter. The construct validity of performance standards is addressed in terms of the extent to which they reflect increasing levels of…

In contrast to multiple choice, alternative modes of assessment afford varying degrees of openness in the allowable responses. Prominent among the alternatives is the assessment of performance, sometimes in its own right where the issue is the quality of the particular performance per se, but more often as a vehicle for the assessment of…

The concept of "washback," especially prominent in the field of applied linguistics, refers to the extent to which a test influences teachers and learners to do things they would not otherwise necessarily do. Some writers invoke the notion of washback validity, holding that a test's validity should be gauged by the degree to which it has…