The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health is a biopsychosocial framework of health-related functioning designed to provide a unifying system for health care, social services, education, and policy sectors. Since its publication in 2001, the International Classification of Functioning has been used to guide clinical…

The emergence of digital-first assessments is prompting reconsideration of, and innovation in, aspects of psychometrics, test validation, and test use. Using the Duolingo English Test (DET) as an example, this three-paper series seeks to address issues concerning the estimation of classification consistency and the reporting of results for such…

The use of assessment results to inform school accountability relies on the assumption that the test design appropriately represents the content and cognitive emphasis reflected in the state's standards. Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act and the certification of accountability assessments through federal peer review practices,…

This research synthesizes studies that used a Digitalized Interactive Component (DIC) to assess K-12 student mathematics performance during Computer-based-Assessments (CBAs) in mathematics. A systematic search identified ten studies that categorized existing DICs according to the tools that provided language assistance to students and tools that…

Background: Detecting reading comprehension difficulties is challenging because many factors are involved in comprehension ability. Various reading comprehension tests can be used to detect difficulties but often do not yield the same results. Method: Our aim was to analyse the agreement between three commonly used standardised reading…

In this study, we define the term "screener test," elaborate key considerations in test design, and describe how to incorporate the concepts of practicality and argument-based validation to drive an evaluation of screener tests for language assessment. A screener test is defined as a brief assessment designed to identify an examinee as a…

International large-scale student assessments (ILSAs) in education represent a valuable source of information for policy-makers, not only on student achievements, but also on their relationship with different contextual factors. The results are partly described in the official studies' reports; more can be derived from the publicly released data…

Educational administration is a rich domain of scholarship and practice, but one subject rarely discussed is its dark side. This study explored the question: What types of maladministration occur in schooling systems? The goal was to develop findings to inform existing prevention strategies. Focused on the Canadian context, data sources included…

In this rejoinder, the authors describe the aim of the original study as an effort to conduct a critical test of an important postulate underlying the Cross-Battery Assessment PSW approach (XBA PSW; Kranzler, Floyd, Benson, Zaboski, & Thibodaux, this issue). The authors used classification agreement analysis to examine the concordance between…

Not much is known about the ways in which assessment data have actually been used in education policy to date. Understanding the role of assessments in informing system-level decision-making is a first step towards helping stakeholders improve the design and usefulness of assessments. Moreover, this understanding can help to further discussions…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which universities use the "GRE"® General Test scores to award merit-based fellowships to first-year graduate students in doctoral programs. While GRE use in fellowship award decisions is a common practice, there is very little validity evidence to support its use in this context.…

Implications of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) on the development and use of tests in school settings are enumerated. We predict increased demand for behavioural assessments that consider a person's activities, participation and person-environment interactions, including measures that: (a) address…

Important decisions about students are made by combining multiple measures using complex decision rules. Although methods for characterizing the accuracy of decisions based on a single measure have been suggested by numerous researchers, such methods are not useful for estimating the accuracy of decisions based on multiple measures. This study…

Aim: To identify the use and utility of language comprehension tests for unintelligible or non-speaking children with severe cerebral palsy (CP). Method: Severe CP was defined as severe dysarthria (unintelligible speech) or anarthria (absence of speech) combined with severe limited mobility, corresponding to Gross Motor Function Classification…

Purpose: To continue the development of a quantified, standard method to differentiate individuals with stroke and dysphagia from individuals without dysphagia. Method: Videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSS) were completed on a group of participants with acute stroke (n = 42) and healthy age-matched individuals (n = 25). Calibrated liquid…