Validity Evidence for Making Decisions About Accommodated and Modified Large-Scale Tests

Abstract

The Standards on Psychological and Educational Tests are typically referenced as the starting point to any argument about general education testing. Likewise, they should be the starting point for testing students with disabilities, whether the decision focuses on the use of an accommodation or a recommendation to participate in an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). Using five different kinds of evidence, the standards provide a frame of reference focused on making inferences and decisions. "Validity refers to the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores entailed by proposed use of tests...It is the interpretations of test scores required by proposed uses that are evaluated, not the test itself" (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council of Measurement in Education, 1999, p. 9). The process is iterative with different kinds of evidence being collected at different points in a testing program or in reference to varying inferences and decisions. For example, in standards-based testing, content-related evidence is considered essential. Usually, this type of evidence comes from an alignment study with state standards. When the focus is on the constructs being tested, evidence on internal structures tends to dominate. In large-scale testing programs, criterion-related evidence may be less valued because of the emphasis on achieving proficiency on grade-level content standards, but nevertheless may be important when considering independent information from other measures of student academic performance. In assessing students with limited English or being served in special education programs, the focus may turn to response processes, or the degree to which relevant target skills are being measured rather than superfluous access skills. Finally, in any standards-based, large-scale testing program, the consequence of assigning student proficiency arises from documenting adequate yearly progress (AYP). In the end, validity is about inferences and the support behind them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)