The vast majority of measures have, at their core, a purpose of personal and social change. If test developers and users want measures to have personal and social consequences and impact, then it is critical to consider the consequences and side effects of measurement in the validation process itself. The consequential basis of test interpretation…

Early identification of social-emotional behavioral problems in infants and preschoolers is critical. Nine parent-report and caregiver/teacher-report instruments measuring preschool social-emotional behavioral problems and strengths are reviewed. Advantages to the use of parent-report and caregiver/teacher-report instruments are that they are easy…

The relationship between the validity theory of the past 50 years and actual validity practices was studied by comparing published test standards with the practices of measurement professionals expressed in the "Mental Measurements Yearbook" test reviews. Results show a symbiotic relationship between theory and practice on the influence…

This article presents arguments that the correlation measure "r" of halo is not conceptually more appropriate than the standard deviation (SD) measure. It also describes conditions under which halo effects occur and when the SD and r measures can be used. Neither measure is uniformly superior to the other. (SLD)

Two articles consider areas of rehabilitation measurement. The first, "Health Care Outcome Measurement," by William P. Fisher, explores the usefulness of the Rasch model in measuring results of health care programs. The second, "Instantaneous Measurement and Diagnosis," by John M. Linacre, discusses use of the Functional…

Describes results of research by the Test User Qualifications Working Group that can be applied to improving testing practices, including 86 test use competencies and 7 factors accounting for misuse; a test classification system; and empirically based test purchaser qualification forms. (SLD)

Statistical and theoretical issues that arise from assessing person-fit on measures of typical performance are discussed, including the frequent attenuation of detection of person-misfit, the need for methods of identifying sources of response aberrancy, and person-fit measures as moderators of trait-criterion relations. (SLD)

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how graphical analyses can enhance the interpretation and understanding of multidimensional item-response theory (IRT) analyses. Conceptually many of the unidimensional IRT concepts such as item characteristic curves, information, etc., can be extended to multiple dimensions. However, as the…

This overview of the role of error and tolerance for error in measurement asserts that the generic precision associated with a measurement procedure is defined as the root mean square error, or standard error, in some relevant population. This view of precision is explored in several applications of measurement. (SLD)

This paper demonstrates how an analysis of the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" (1985) can define the body of knowledge needed by teachers for the effective use of tests in classroom instruction. Procedures are described for identifying standards relevant to teachers' roles and their behavior. (SLD)

Two new methods for improving the measurement precision of a general test factor are proposed and evaluated. One new method provides a multidimensional item response theory estimate obtained from conventional administrations of multiple-choice test items that span general and nuisance dimensions. The other method chooses items adaptively to…

Reasonable and practical solutions to two major problems confronting the developer of any test of educational achievement (what to measure and how to measure it) are proposed, defended, and defined. (Author/PN)

Critical issues addressed in the literature with regard to teacher evaluation, appraisal instruments, and their use are reviewed. The focus of the study is to provide ideas and suggestions on improving the evaluation process, something best achieved by matching the appropriate instrument with that which it purports to measure. (SLD)

This paper presents six steps in test construction generally recommended by measurement textbook authors. The focus is primarily on paper-and-pencil achievement tests as used by class instructions, although the discussion touches on the construction of other types of assessment. The six steps are: (1) determine the test purpose; (2) determine the…

Standard setting is a fairly widespread activity in educational and psychological measurement, but there is no formal psychometric theory to guide the development of standard setting methodology. This paper presents a conceptual framework for such a psychometric theory and uses the conceptual framework to analyze a number of methods for setting…