Validity is a fundamental consideration of test development and test evaluation. The purpose of this study is to define and reify three key aspects of validity and validation, namely test-score interpretation, test-score use, and the claims supporting interpretation and use. This study employed a Delphi methodology to explore how experts in…

Despite the ease of accessing a wide range of measures, little attention is given to validity arguments when considering whether to use the measure for a new purpose or in a different context. Making a validity argument has historically focused on the intended interpretation and use. There has been a press to consider both the intended and actual…

This article offers a critique of the validity argument put forward by Camara, Mattern, Croft, and Vispoel (2019) regarding the use of college-admissions tests in high school assessment systems. We challenge their argument in two main ways. First, we illustrate why their argument fails to address broader issues related to consequences of using…

The use of assessment results to inform school accountability relies on the assumption that the test design appropriately represents the content and cognitive emphasis reflected in the state's standards. Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the certification of accountability assessments through federal peer review practices,…

In 2018, 26 states administered a college admissions test to all public school juniors. Nearly half of those states proposed to use those scores as their academic achievement indicators for federal accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); many others are planning to use those scores for other accountability purposes.…

This article reviews the intended uses of these college- and career-readiness assessments with the goal of articulating an appropriate validity argument to support such uses. These assessments differ fundamentally from today's state assessments employed for state accountability. Current assessments are used to determine if students have…

Implications of the multiple-use of accountability assessments for the process of validation are examined. Multiple-use refers to the simultaneous use of results from a single administration of an assessment for its intended use and for one or more additional uses. A theoretical discussion of the issues for validation which emerge from…

This article has three goals. The first goal is to clarify the role that the consequences of test score use play in validity judgments by reviewing the role that modern writers on validity have ascribed for consequences in supporting validity judgments. The second goal is to summarize current views on who is responsible for collecting evidence of…

This reply to William A. Mehrens argues that test validity is the central issue in discussing the appropriate role of tests. It states that the procedures used to establish the validity of tests are inadequate because they depend primarily on content validity and not on construct and criterion validity. (JAZ)

Assessments labeled as formative have been offered as a means to improve student achievement. But labels can be a powerful way to miscommunicate. For an assessment use to be appropriately labeled "formative," both empirical evidence and reasoned arguments must be offered to support the claim that improvements in student achievement can be linked…

In many school districts, the pressure to raise test scores has created overnight celebrity status for formative assessment. Its powers to raise student achievement have been touted, however, without attending to the research on which these claims were based. Sociocultural learning theory provides theoretical grounding for understanding how…

Asserts that publishers of achievement tests are, for the most part, not in a position to obtain on their own any decent evidence about the consequences of uses made of their tests. Reasons why this is so are discussed, and what publishers can be expected to do is outlined. (SLD)

There is no agreement at present about the importance or meaning of the term "consequential validity." It is important that the authors of revisions to the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" recognize the debate and relegate discussion of consequences to a context separate from the discussion of validity.…

The articles in this issue, written from the perspectives of academics, practitioners, and publishers, show that examining the consequences of assessment is an important, large, and difficult task. Collaborative action by assessment developers, users, and the educational measurement community is needed if progress is to be made. (SLD)

Provides an argument for incorporating consideration of consequences into validity theory that is grounded in the reflexive nature of social knowledge. It also calls for the consideration of evidence of validity based on the actual discourse surrounding the practices and products of testing. (SLD)