The authors describe challenges of following professional standards for educational achievement testing due to the complexity of gathering appropriate evidence to support demanding test interpretation and use. Validity evidence has been found to be low for some individual testing standards, leading to the possibility of faulty or impoverished test…

Assessment refers to a broad array of approaches for measuring or evaluating a person's (or group of persons') skills, behaviors, dispositions, or other attributes. Assessments range from standardized tests used in admissions, employee selection, licensure examinations, and domestic and international large-scale assessments of cognitive and…

In the service of educational accountability, student achievement tests are being used to measure constructs quite unlike those envisioned by test developers. Scores are compared to cut points to create classifications like "proficient"; scores are combined over time to measure growth; student scores are aggregated to measure the…

Kane (this issue) presents a comprehensive review of validity theory and reminds us that the focus of validation is on test score interpretations and use. In reacting to his article, I support the argument-based approach to validity and all of the major points regarding validation made by Dr. Kane. In addition, I call for a simpler, three-step…

This article briefly reviews the history of intellectual assessment of children and youth in the United States of America, as well as current practices and future directions. Although administration of intelligence tests in the schools has been a longstanding practice in the United States, their use has also elicited sharp controversy over time.…

Students were observed directly, in a usability laboratory, and indirectly, by means of an extensive evaluation of responses, as they attempted interactive computer-marked assessment questions that required free-text responses of up to 20 words and as they amended their responses after receiving feedback. This provided more general insight into…

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…

This keynote address begins with examples that underscore how profoundly the issues of multiculturalism and diversity impact the consciousness of society at the end of the 20th century. Changes in assessment that can lead to assessment for change in a culturally diverse society are based on the ideas that "assessment as a process must be…

This survey examined the test use practices of counselors who belong to either or both of two divisions of the American Association for Counseling and Development: the American School Counselors Association, and the Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. A questionnaire covering test use patterns, test…

Explanations of and guidelines for using the Stanford Achievement Test for Hearing Impaired (SAT-HI) children are given. Types of scores from the test (raw scores, grade equivalent scores, scaled scores, and percentile rankings) are described. Limitations on test interpretations are suggested as well as reminders on using achievement test scores…

The Internet is now adding the potential for remote delivery of test administration, scoring, profiling, report writing, and multimedia functions, as well as cost-effective capability in communication and links to related information. Using the Internet to enhance test interpretation is the focus of this paper. A review of potential Internet…

Guidelines for test developers and users are provided to insure that construction and selection of test instruments are conducted fairly. In addition to development and selection, issues of interpretation of scores; provision of information to test takers; and prevention of test bias based on race, gender, or ethnicity are addressed. Twenty-one…

Disadvantages of traditional intelligence tests with handicapped children are discussed, and an alternative approach, The "Assessment of Basic Competencies" (ABC) is presented. The background and design of the ABC and the three domains of the model (language skills, math reasoning skills, and information processing skills) are…

Reviews literature on the use of content validity to establish the job-relatedness of assessment centers. Attempts to show that content validity requires more than the careful construction of stimulus materials, how these stimulus materials are presented to candidates and how responses to these stimuli are evaluated are also critical…

Responds to five major articles by Duckworth, Goldman, Healy, Sampson, and Goodyear on issues pertaining to testing and assessment in counseling psychology. Notes that assessment of the person is incomplete unless it includes assessment of environment, and discusses the role of assessment in problem solving. (TE)