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…

The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing-Second Edition (CTOPP-2; Wagner, Torgesen, Rashotte, & Pearson, 2013) is a norm-referenced test that measures phonological processing skills related to reading for individuals aged 4 to 24. According to its authors, the CTOPP-2 may be used to identify individuals who are markedly below their…

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…

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 argues that test takers are as integral to determining validity of test scores as defining target content and conditioning inferences on test use. A principled sustained attention to how students interact with assessment opportunities is essential, as is a principled sustained evaluation of evidence confirming the validity or calling…

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…

Paul E. Newton provides an insightful and scholarly overview of central issues in validity theory. As he notes, many of the conceptual problems in validity theory derive from the fact that the word "validity" has two meanings. First, it indicates "whether a test measures what it purports to measure." This is a factual claim about the psychometric…

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.…

ACT reporting categories and ACT Readiness Ranges are new features added to the ACT score reports starting in fall 2016. For each reporting category, the number correct score, the maximum points possible, the percent correct, and the ACT Readiness Range, along with an indicator of whether the reporting category score falls within the Readiness…

Background/Context: Validity issues are often discussed in technical terms, but the context changes when measures enter broad public debate, and a wider range of interests come into play. Purpose: This article, part of a special section of TCR, considers the political dimensions of validity questions as raised by a keynote address and panel…

Errors don't exist in our data, but they serve a vital function. Reality is complicated, but our models need to be simple in order to be manageable. We assume that attributes are invariant over some conditions of observation, and once we do that we need some way of accounting for the variability in observed scores over these conditions of…

Researchers have expressed concern about "implementation" fidelity in intervention research but have not extended that concern to "assessment" fidelity, or the extent to which pre-/posttests are administered and interpreted as intended. When studying reading interventions, data gathering heavily influences the identification of…

In this article, the author begins by discussing four challenges on the concept of validity. These challenges are: (1) the appeal to logic and syllogistic reasoning; (2) the claim of reliability; (3) the local and the universal; and (4) the unitary and the divisible. In language testing validity cannot be achieved directly but only through a…

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…