Introduces the articles of this theme issue focusing on the involvement of key stakeholder groups in the validation of large-scale high-stakes assessments. Each makes a unique but complementary contribution to the understanding of the demands of a comprehensive validation effort. (SLD)

The five chapters of this report provide resources that deal with the validity, generalizability, comparability, performance standards, and fairness, equity, and bias of performance assessments. The book is written for experienced educational measurement practitioners, although an extensive familiarity with performance assessment is not required.…

The recent examination of the curriculum and examination systems of France and the Netherlands overlooks the real process of creating a national consensus around standards in the Netherlands, balancing local autonomy and national standards. A comment by the original authors acknowledges the implications of the Dutch approach for U.S. standards.…