Existing educational assessments have typically been developed without appropriate attention to the intended and unintended consequences of measure implementation and interpretation. We are developing the Expanding Screening to Support Youth (ESSY) Whole Child Screener using a mixed methods approach that attends to the intended and unintended…

In this article, we highlight the need for a precisely defined construct in score-based validation and discuss the contribution of cognitive theories to accurately and comprehensively defining the construct. We propose a framework for integrating cognitively based theoretical and empirical evidence to specify and evaluate the construct. We apply…

The problem of determining the significance level which should be used in statistical tests of item validity in order to minimize type I errors is discussed. (Author/JKS)

Test bias has traditionally been defined in terms of an outside criterion measure of the performance being predicted by the test. In test construction, where criterion-related validity data are usually not collected until after the test is completed, assessment of bias in the absence of outside criteria had become a vital issue. Here, an unbiased…

The difference in gain scores produced by traditional pretests and those produced by retrospective pretests when compared to posttest scores on the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument for preservice teachers was investigated in this study. Results indicated that gain scores using the traditional pretest produced significant improvement in…