Principles of Educational Assessment (A101) Quiz

What makes an assessment or test "valid"?

• it measures what it is intended to measure, i.e., its "construct"

• it provides sufficient evidence to support inferences

• it leads to defensible decisions about candidates

• All of these

Which concept refers to the consistency and replicability of an assessment's results over time and across contexts?

• validity

• reliability

• comparability

• fairness

Which concept refers to the idea that the outcomes of an assessment for a candidate should should not depend on construct-irrelevant factors (e.g., socio-economic status, ethnicity, etc.)

• validity

• reliability

• practicality

• fairness

What differentiates between different levels of performance and is important for sustaining public trust in assessments and qualifications?

• standards

• criteria

• grades

• comparability

Which concept means the degree to which the results from one assessment can be seen as equivalent to results from another assessment at a different time or place?

• reliability

• comparability

• validity

• fairness

Which concept refers to using professional judgements to assess candidates optimally given time and operational constraints?

• fairness

• reliability

• fairness

• practicality

Which characteristic or quality of an assessment is described here? "... an integrated evaluative judgement of the degree to which empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy and appropriateness of inferences and actions based on test scores or other modes of assessment (Messick, 1989, p. 13)

• validity

• reliability

• fairness

• comparability

Match the following types of validity to their definitions.

• criterion

• how well the test agrees with theoretical accounts and observations of some hypothetical trait or quality that cannot be observed directly

• content

• how well test scores correlate with some other demonstrably valid objective measure which the test is used to measure, e.g., IQ or CEFR

• argument-based

• how well a test samples the class of situations or subject matter about which conclusions are to be drawn, e.g., the knowledge and techniques covered in a course

• construct

• how well the test content or instrument seem to meet the assessment purposes, based on a surface and subjective examination

• face

• how well the evidence for the interpretive inferences made from test scores supports the test's relevance, utility, value, and social consequences