Context: A major goal of any evaluation is to demonstrate content validity, which considers both curricular content as well as the ability expected of learners. Whether evaluation blueprints should be published and the degree of blueprint transparency is controversial. Objectives: To examine the effect of blueprint publication on students'…

In recent discussions about educational accountability, participants have joined one of two warring camps. In one corner are the advocates of results-driven accountability who claim that test scores are the most accurate measure of the quality of schools, teachers, and school leaders. In the opposite corner are the advocates of input-driven…

The literature on competency-based human resource (HR) management provides a strong case for moving from a jobs-based to a competency-based approach to human resources. There is agreement in the literature (Dubois, Rothwell, Stern, & Kemp, 2004; Lucia & Lepsinger, 1999) on the benefits of using competencies throughout HR systems and impact…

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the seemingly discrepant views of test theorists and test developers about terminology related to the evaluation of test content. The origin and evolution of the concept of content validity are traced, and the concept is reformulated in a way that emphasizes the notion that content domain definition,…

One of 10 reports commissioned by the National Academy of Education, this report investigates topics related to an assessment program piloted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) designed to support state-by-state and state-to-nation comparisons of student performance in reading. The report focuses on three issues: (1) the…

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…

Smart testing is concerned with what is tested and why, whether the testing instruments are up to the task, and how test results are used. Smart testing provides information in a timely fashion, and uses results to make accurate generalizations drawn from the data. This report is concerned with three smart testing components: (1) strong state…

Findings are reported from a series of comprehensive and detailed empirical investigations that evaluated four different teacher certification paper-and-pencil tests through a typical content validation method and from three distinct and independent empirical validation studies of these devices. These latter studies can be understood as providing…

Examines the concept of washback as an instance of the consequential aspect of construct validity, linking positive washback to direct assessments and the need to minimize construct underrepresentation and construct-irrelevant difficulty in the test. The article explains washback as referring to the extent to which test use influences language…

Uses the examination of materials designed to teach critical reading to review the three criteria discussed in previous Instructional Resources columns: content validity, transfer potential, and amount of reinforcement. (MG)

A system of medical classification based on the dimensions of body system, etiology, and stage of disease was evaluated by classifying the content of one specialty board's examinations. This classification system may allow a board to define the content of its examinations, monitor requirements for certification, and communicate its standards.…

Six distinguishable aspects of construct validity are discussed as they apply to performance assessment, emphasizing content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential aspects. Taken together, these aspects provide a way to address validity questions in score interpretation and use. (SLD)

This study, involving 15 deaf parents, their hearing children, and the children's hearing grandparents, examined the content validity of the Parental Strengths and Needs Inventory for evaluating the child-rearing performance of deaf adults. The inventory was found to be inadequate for assessing the strengths and needs of deaf parents. (Author/JDD)

The issues of construct validity, predictive validity, and item content bias on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) are examined. The review concludes that most objective data have not supported the issue of bias of the WISC-R when used with children of different ethnic backgrounds. (JDD)

This review of methods for validating writing assessments was conceptualized within a framework suggested by S. Messick (1989) that included five operational components of construct validation: (1) content representativeness; (2) structural fidelity; (3) nomological validity; (4) criterion-related validity; and (5) nomothetic span. (SLD)