In this invited Viewpoint on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the journal "Language Testing," I argue that at the core of future challenges and opportunities for the field--both in scholarly and operational respects--remain basic questions and principles in language testing and assessment. Despite the high levels of sophistication…

The continuous testing framework, where both successful and unsuccessful examinees have to demonstrate continued proficiency at frequent prespecified intervals, is a framework that is used in noncognitive assessment and is gaining in popularity in cognitive assessment. Despite the rigorous advantages of this framework, this paper demonstrates that…

Decisions about assessment are often built on myths about teacher professional judgment and subjectivity that prioritize standardized assessment over classroom assessment. Ken O'Connor and Matt Townsley discuss some of the most common myths and explain how to dispel them by developing clear guidelines in which teachers can exercise their judgment,…

Errors in examination papers and other assessment instruments can compromise fairness. For example, a history question containing an incorrect historical date could be impossible for students to answer. Incorrect instructions at the start of an examination could lead students to answer the wrong number of questions. As there is little research on…

This paper follows a line of logical argumentation to claim that what Samuel Messick conceptualized about construct validation has probably been misunderstood by some educational policy makers, practicing educators, and classroom teachers. It argues that, while Messick's unified theory of test validation aimed at (a) warning educational…

Longitudinal studies can produce biased estimates of learning if children miss tests. In an application to summer learning, we illustrate how missing test scores can create an illusion of large summer learning gaps when true gaps are close to zero. We demonstrate two methods that reduce bias by exploiting the correlations between missing and…

The array of different philosophical positions underlying contemporary views on competence, assessment strategies and justification have led to advances in assessment science. Challenges may arise when these philosophical positions are not considered in assessment design. These can include (a) a logical incompatibility leading to varied or…

Researchers are often inclined to test agreement or discrepancy hypotheses using difference scores. This commentary explains 2 mathematical-statistical principles underlying associations with difference scores and 2 conceptual-interpretation problems that make difference scores inappropriate for testing such hypotheses. The commentary provides…

Administrative problems such as computer malfunction and power outage occasionally lead to missing item scores, and hence to incomplete data, on credentialing tests such as the United States Medical Licensing examination. Feinberg compared four approaches for reporting pass-fail decisions to the examinees with incomplete data on credentialing…

It has been argued in the literature on (language) testing that any act of testing/assessment can impact: (1) educators' curriculum design; (2) teachers' teaching practices; and (3) students' learning behaviors. This quality of any given testing situation or act of assessment has been called washback, or backwash if you will. Washback falls into…

The number of immigrant and international multilingual learners enrolling in postsecondary education is on the rise. With this growth, there remain difficulties in identifying and supporting multilingual learners moving from K-12 to college due to demographic data collection procedures at the postsecondary level. Postsecondary institutions are…

Since 2000, the PISA test implemented by OECD has become the prime benchmark for international comparisons in education. The 2015 PISA edition introduced methodological changes that altered the nature of its results. PISA made no longer valid non-reached items of the final part of the test, assuming that those unanswered questions were more a…

The use of differences scores to assess agreement/disagreement has a long and contentious history. Laird (2020) notes, however, that developmentalists have been particularly resistant to discontinue the use of difference scores. One area of developmental science where difference scores are still in regular use is that of parental differential…

In this article, we analyze the edTPA as an instance of "performativity," as we argue that the edTPA is a "display" of quality for the purposes of incentive, control, attrition, and change. These displays are moments of productivity that boil down the complex act of teaching to a number, which can be audited by policy makers.…

With the introduction of a new initiative in a teaching and learning environment there is an ethical responsibility to consider whether the impact of the introduction has met its intended goals, and whether it has harmed those who are influenced by it. Technology and infrastructure developments have encouraged a continued growth in the development…