While score comparability across test forms typically relies on common (or randomly equivalent) examinees or items, innovations in item formats, test delivery, and efforts to extend the range of score interpretation may require a special data collection before examinees or items can be used in this way--or may be incompatible with common examinee…

With the iPad-mediated cognitive assessment gaining popularity with school districts and the need for alternative modes for training and instruction during this COVID-19 pandemic, school psychology training programs will need to adapt to effectively train their students to be competent in administering, scoring, an interpreting cognitive…

Consideration of the influence of English language skills during testing is an understandable requirement for fair and valid cognitive test interpretation. Several professional standards and expert recommendations exist to guide psychologists as they attempt to engage in best practices when assessing English learners (ELs). Nonetheless, relatively…

The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Third Edition (GARS-3) is a norm-referenced tool designed to screen for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in individuals between the ages of 3 and 22 (Gilliam, 2014). The GARS-3 test kit consists of three different components and includes an "Examiner's Manual," summary/response forms (50), and the…

"The Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities" (WJ IV COG) is an individually administered measure of psychometric intellectual abilities designed for ages 2 to 90+. The measure was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-Riverside in 2014. Frederick Shrank, Kevin McGrew, and Nancy Mather are the authors. Richard Woodcock, the…

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders among school-age children and can lead to impaired academic and social functioning (Keeley & Storch, 2009). Unfortunately, anxiety disorders in this population are often undetected (Herzig-Anderson, Colognori, Fox, Stewart, & Warner, 2012). The availability of psychometrically…

The first edition of the Gray Oral Reading Tests (GORT, 1963) was written by Dr. William S. Gray, a founding member and the first president of the International Reading Association. The GORT was designed to measure oral reading abilities (i.e., Rate, Accuracy, Fluency, and Comprehension) of students in Grades 2 through 12 due to the noteworthy…

Neil Dorans has made a career of advocating for the examinee. He continues to do so in his NCME career award address, providing a thought-provoking commentary on some current trends in educational measurement that could potentially affect the integrity of test scores. Concerns expressed in the address call attention to a conundrum that faces…

Views on testing--its purpose and uses and how its data are analyzed--are related to one's perspective on test takers. Test takers can be viewed as learners, examinees, or contestants. I briefly discuss the perspective of test takers as learners. I maintain that much of psychometrics views test takers as examinees. I discuss test takers as a…

In this article, the author reviews the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd edition (BDI-2), a criterion-referenced, individually administered, standardized assessment used to measure the developmental skills in children aged birth through 7 years, 11 months. The BDI-2 is composed of 450 items grouped into five domains (Adaptive,…

Within the field of psychological assessment, the Wechsler scales continue to be the most widely used intelligence batteries. The concepts, methods, and procedures inherent in the design of the Wechsler scales have been so influential that they have guided most of the test development and research in the field for more than a half century. This…

In efforts to clarify ambiguity in the scoring directions for part of the WISC, 100 children were given the test which was scored by two sets of criteria. Four sets of data were analyzed, with significant discrepancies apparent only between Verbal-Performance correlations secured by Wechsler in his standardization of the WISC and those secured in…

Objective procedures for converting test data into counseling information are discussed and illustrated, with special attention being given to similarity scores and similarity score profiles. Local validity studies are needed to support data-information conversion procedures. Computer-based systems are also valuable. (Author)

In this study only bias in scoring, controlling for the effect of actual administration, was investigated. Results indicated that scoring the WISC was biased by scorers' expectations, and that the bias effect exists independent of actual administration of the test. (Author)

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Self-Report version (BRIEF-SR) is the first self-report measure of executive functioning for adolescents. With the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act authorization, there is a greater need for appropriate assessment of severely impaired children. Recent studies have…