Discusses evaluation of tests both in terms of their measurement properties and their potential social consequences. Presents a model for evaluating test validity based on empirical evidence as well as on ethical decisions. Stresses the importance of construct validity as a rational foundation for test predictiveness and relevance; and the…

This paper emphasizes the need to go beyond structural models of personality and intellect to develop sequential models of psychological process, particularly for such complex phenomena of prime concern to theory and application as learning, problem solving, and creativity. It is further argued that factor analysis, in a multitude of studies of…

This article is a response to an article in a previous issue by Robert L. Williams on unfairness in testing blacks with existing instruments. This paper discusses: (1) testing as systematic inquiry; (2) the question of bias; (3) test use; and (4) the consequences of not testing. (CJ)

The traditional concept of validity divides it into three separate types; content, criterion, and construct validities. This view is fragmented and incomplete, failing to take into account evidence of the value implications of score meaning as a basis for action and of the social consequences of score use. The new unified concept of validity…

In contrast to multiple choice, alternative modes of assessment afford varying degrees of openness in the allowable responses. Prominent among the alternatives is the assessment of performance, sometimes in its own right where the issue is the quality of the particular performance per se, but more often as a vehicle for the assessment of…

Presents a comprehensive review of validity that includes an empirical evaluation of the actual and potential consequences of score interpretation and use, how those consequences come about, and what determines them. Six distinguishable aspects of construct validity are highlighted as a means of addressing central issues implicit in the notion of…