This article provides a brief introduction to the set of four articles in the special issue. To provide a foundation for the issue, key terms are defined, a brief historical overview of validity is provided, and a description of several different validation approaches used in the issue are explained. Finally, the contribution of the articles to…

Assessments built on a theory of learning progressions are promising formative tools to support learning and teaching. The quality and usefulness of those assessments depend, in large part, on the validity of the theory-informed inferences about student learning made from the assessment results. In this study, we introduced an approach to address…

The idea that formative assessments embedded in a curriculum could help guide teachers toward better instructional practices that lead to greater student learning has taken center stage in science assessment research. In order to embed formative assessments in a curriculum, curriculum developers and assessment specialists should collaborate to…

Given the current emphasis on conducting high-quality experimental studies, it is becoming increasingly important for researchers to accompany their studies with evaluations of the "fidelity of implementation" of the experimental treatments. This article compares the form and extent of an experimental treatment to student learning. The study…

With the exception of the procedures developed by Porter and colleagues (Porter, 2002), other methods of defining and measuring alignment are essentially limited to alignment between tests and standards. Porter's procedures have been generalized to investigating the alignment between content standards, tests, textbooks, and even classroom…

Presents a theory about the role of classroom assessment in motivating student effort and achievement. The theory postulates that in any particular class the classroom assessment environment is played out in repeated assessment events through which a teacher communicates and students respond according to their perceptions. (SLD)

Current coaching practices used in training test wiseness for analogy items on standardized test batteries were investigated in a 3-group design involving about 100 undergraduates in each condition. The largest improvement came in items in the middle range of difficulty, but overall effects of coaching were important. (SLD)

A method to investigate consequential evidence of validity for a state assessment developed to change teacher instructional practices is presented. Survey responses from over 1,000 Kansas teachers were used to construct a path model that allowed effects of the state assessment to be studied at building and teacher levels. (SLD)

The item-response-theory-based (IRT) rule-space model was used to diagnose student knowledge about how exponents behave in multiplication and division in a sample of 431 tenth-grade students. Implications for using feedback from the rule-space model in instruction and assessment are discussed. (SLD)

Responses of 310 teachers in Florida to a survey about use of teacher-made tests, nationally standardized tests, and state minimum competency tests were studied. Results show that all three test types were used to some extent in eight decision categories, but none of the tests were clearly dominant. (SLD)