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ERIC Number: EJ1104519
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0969-594X
EISSN: N/A
On the Validity of Useless Tests
Sireci, Stephen G.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, v23 n2 p226-235 2016
A misconception exists that validity may refer only to the "interpretation" of test scores and not to the "uses" of those scores. The development and evolution of validity theory illustrate test score interpretation was a primary focus in the earliest days of modern testing, and that validating interpretations derived from test scores remains essential today. However, test scores are not interpreted and then ignored; rather, their interpretations lead to actions. Thus, a modern definition of validity needs to describe the validation of test score interpretations as a necessary, but insufficient, step en route to validating the "uses" of test scores for their intended purposes. To ignore test use in defining validity is tantamount to defining validity for "useless" tests. The current definition of validity stipulated in the 2014 version of the "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing" properly describes validity in terms of both interpretations and uses, and provides a sufficient starting point for validation.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A