Background: Mid-semester evaluations are gaining traction as a means to gather evaluation data for formative purposes. However, it is not clear if course coordinators who conduct these evaluations are adequately equipped with evaluative knowledge and skills to guide them through their evaluative processes. Objectives: This study is a…

Third-party observations using validated observation protocols (OPs) provide a reliable way of recording teacher and student behaviors across different classrooms and institutions, which can then be used to identify what pedagogical strategies geoscience faculty use and how they are tied to learning outcomes of importance to the field. We examined…

Background: The current study aimed to validate the utility of previously established validity indicators derived from MOXO-d-CPT's continuous performance test. Method: Healthy simulators feigned impairment after searching online for relevant information, an ecologically valid coaching condition (n = 39). They were compared to ADHD patients (n =…

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) classify examinees based on the skills they have mastered given their test performance. This classification enables targeted feedback that can inform remedial instruction. Unfortunately, applications of DCMs have been criticized (e.g., no validity support). Generally, these evaluations have been brief and…

In "The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better", the author's new book from which this article is drawn, the failures of test-based accountability are documented and some of the most egregious misuses and outright abuses of testing are described, along with some of the most serious negative effects. Neither good intentions…

A misconception exists that validity may refer only to the "interpretation" of test scores and not to the "uses" of those scores. The development and evolution of validity theory illustrate test score interpretation was a primary focus in the earliest days of modern testing, and that validating interpretations derived from test…

Cost-effectiveness analysis is rarely used in education. When it is used, it often fails to meet methodological standards, especially with regard to cost measurement. Although there are occasional criticisms of these failings, we believe that it is useful to provide a listing of the more common concerns and how they might be addressed. Based upon…

Advances in validity theory and alacrity in validation practice have suffered because the term "validity" has been used to refer to two incompatible concerns: (1) the degree of support for specified interpretations of test scores (i.e. intended score meaning) and (2) the degree of support for specified applications (i.e. intended test…

The conventional focus of validity in educational measurement has been on intended interpretations and uses of test scores. Empirical studies of test use by teachers, administrators and policy-makers show that actual interpretations and uses of test scores in context are invariably shaped by local users' questions, which frequently require…

This chapter describes a concrete process that stakeholders can use to make predictions about the future performance of programs in local contexts. Within the field of evaluation, the discussion of validity as it relates to outcome evaluation seems to be focused largely on questions of internal validity (Did it work?) with less emphasis on…

This survey study investigated how graduate school admissions committees perceive and use the "GRE"® General Test and "GRE"® Subject Tests after the launch of the "GRE"® revised General Test in August 2011. These perceptions and uses impact the validity of the tests. Prior research about the perceptions and uses of…

PISA is an extremely influential large-scale assessment, and its "policy lessons" are being incorporated in a range of nations all over the world. In this paper I argue that not only is PISA influencing policies and practices, but also that "seeing like PISA" is becoming a widespread phenomenon. Globally, education…

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is now commonplace in many universities internationally. While much effort has been devoted to examining the statistical validity of SET instruments, there has been limited examination of the methodological and consequential validity (together referred to as "utility") of the ways in which SET data…

In the present offering we challenge the presumption that the educational testing of students provides objective information about such students. This presumption largely rests on an empiricist account of science. In light of mounting criticism, however, empiricist foundationalism has given way to a social epistemology. From this standpoint,…

Organizational evaluation capacity building has been a topic of increasing interest in recent years. However, the actual dimensions of evaluation capacity have not been clearly articulated through empirical research. This study sought to address this gap by identifying the key dimensions of evaluation capacity in Canadian federal government…