Future directions in testing

Chair

Ronald K. HAMBLETON (University of Massachusetts, USA)

Symposium Abstract

The importance of test uses continues to grow.  In the USA today, for example, students from the 3rd grade to high school are administered achievement tests, for a total of about 80 million tests per year.  Add several times 80 million tests to account for the diagnostic tests that are being administered to support the assessment of student progress, and it is clear that the growth of testing in the schools has been substantial.  Also, the number of admissions tests and credentialing exams continues to grow.  At the same time, because of the importance of these tests, and the desire to improve test score validity, technical advances in many directions are occurring.   In this symposium, the presenters will focus on four important directions:  First, we will consider the impact of cognitive psychology on testing.  The impact has been discussed in the measurement literature for 30 years but now that impact is being seen, and substantial amounts of research are underway.  Second, the impact of technology has been increasing, and now it is likely to fundamentally change our approaches to what is measured, as well as to test design and test administration.  Advances in technology will be the focus of the second presentation.  Third, we will look at advances in psychometric modeling.  Finally, nothing is more important, ultimately, than the production of valid test scores, that can be reported on meaningful score scales, and in ways that they are understood and used correctly by practitioners.  Score reporting in the future will be the focus of the final presentation.