Given its centrality to assessment, until the concept of validity includes concern for racial justice, such matters will be seen as residing outside the "real" work of validation, rendering them powerless to count against the apparent scientific merit of the test. As the definition of validity has evolved, however, it holds great…

The "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" recommend an argument-based approach to validation that involves a clear statement of the intended interpretation and use of test scores, the identification of the underlying assumptions and inferences in that statement--termed the interpretation/use argument, and gathering of…

Contingent argument-based approaches to validity require a unique argument for each use, in contrast to more prescriptive approaches that identify the common kinds of validity evidence researchers should consider for every use. In this article, we evaluate our use of an approach that is both prescriptive "and" argument-based to develop a…

Fully articulating validation arguments in the context of classroom assessment requires connecting evidence from multiple sources and addressing multiple types of validity in a coherent chain of reasoning. This type of validation argument is particularly complex for assessments that function in close proximity to instruction, address the fine…

Assessing complex constructs such as those discussed under the umbrella of 21st century constructs highlights the need for a principled assessment design and validation approach. In our discussion, we made a case for three considerations: (a) taking construct complexity into account across various stages of assessment development such as the…

Whenever the purpose of measurement is to inform an inference about a student's achievement level, it is important that we be able to trust that the student's test score accurately reflects what that student knows and can do. Such trust requires the assumption that a student's test event is not unduly influenced by construct-irrelevant factors…

This article addresses validity and fairness in the testing of English language learners (ELLs)--students in the United States who are developing English as a second language. It discusses limitations of current approaches to examining the linguistic features of items and their effect on the performance of ELL students. The article submits that…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) serves over 19 million primary, middle, and high school students from across 26 states and affiliates (Smarter Balanced, n.d). As one of the two Race to the Top (RTT)-funded assessment consortia, Smarter Balanced is responsible for developing formative, interim, and summative…

This study explores measurement of a construct called knowledge integration in science using multiple-choice and explanation items. We use construct and instructional validity evidence to examine the role multiple-choice and explanation items plays in measuring students' knowledge integration ability. For construct validity, we analyze item…

Many innovative item formats have been proposed over the past decade, but little empirical research has been conducted on their measurement properties. This study examines the reliability, efficiency, and construct validity of two innovative item formats--the figural response (FR) and constructed response (CR) formats used in a K-12 computerized…

This validity study examined differential item functioning (DIF) results on large-scale state standards-based English-language arts assessments at grades 4 and 8 for students without disabilities taking the test under standard conditions and students who are blind or visually impaired taking the test with either a large print or braille form.…

Descriptions of validity results based solely on correlation coefficients or percent of the variance accounted for are not merely difficult to interpret, they are likely to be misinterpreted. Predictors that apparently account for a small percent of the variance may actually be highly important from a practical perspective. This study combined two…

Research on the validity of psychosocial factors (PSFs) and other noncognitive predictors of college outcomes has largely ignored the practical benefits implied by the validity. We summarize evidence of the validity of PSF measures as predictors of college outcomes and then explain how this validity directly translates into improved identification…

This review of methods for validating writing assessments was conceptualized within a framework suggested by S. Messick (1989) that included five operational components of construct validation: (1) content representativeness; (2) structural fidelity; (3) nomological validity; (4) criterion-related validity; and (5) nomothetic span. (SLD)

Methodological procedures used in validating the theoretical structure of academic self-concept and validating associated measurement instruments are reviewed. Substantive findings from research related to modes of inquiry are summarized, and recommendations for future research are outlined. (TJH)