Current educational policies rely on educational assessments. However, the technical aspects of assessments are often unknown to policy makers, which is dangerous because sound assessment policy requires knowledge of the strengths and limitations of educational tests. In this article, we discuss the importance of informing policy makers of…

Speededness refers to the situation where the time limits on a standardized test do not allow substantial numbers of examinees to fully consider all test items. When tests are not intended to measure speed of responding, speededness introduces a severe threat to the validity of interpretations based on test scores. In this article, we describe…

The Bookmark method for setting standards on educational tests is currently one of the most popular standard-setting methods. However, research to support the method is scarce. In this report, we review the published and unpublished literature on this method as well as some seminal work in the area of evaluating standard-setting studies. Our…

The psychometric literature is replete with comprehensive discussions of test validity, test validation, and the characteristics of quality assessment programs. The most authoritative source for guidance regarding sound test development and evaluation practices is the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. However, the Standards are…

Surveyed members of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) about ideas for recruiting new educational measurement professionals. Responses of 131 people, presumably NCME members, generated a number of ideas about making people more aware of the educational measurement profession, recruiting new members, and increasing the…

Discusses the potential positive and negative effects computer-based testing could have on validity, reviews the literature on validation perspectives in computer-based testing, and suggests ways to evaluate the contributions of computer-based testing to more valid measurement practices. (SLD)

Discusses the present shortage of measurement professionals and makes some suggestions for actions the measurement community could take to increase the number and diversity of educational measurement professionals. Instead of increasing the number of doctoral degrees in psychometrics, the profession should focus on increasing the number of…

Summarizes conceptualizations of sound teacher certification practices espoused by the courts and psychometricians, compares these conceptualizations, and provides suggestions for teacher certification testing programs that are legally and psychometrically defensible. (SLD)

Different methodologies for linking tests across languages are reviewed and evaluated, focusing on monolingual item response theory, bilingual group designs, and matched monolingual group designs. These methods, although not without weaknesses, are superior for promoting score comparability than methods that rely on translation or expert judgment…