Workshop
Summary:
Interpretation of psychological and educational tests and procedures
involves making inferences about the individual based on their scores
on the test or information from the procedure. The inferences made often
result in diagnostic decisions and/or recommendations that have substantial
implications for the individual assessed. Such scores and the resulting
inferences must be empirically supported in terms of their reliability
and validity according to the Standards for Educational and Psychological
Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA], American
Psychological Association [APA], & National Council on Measurement
in Education [NCME], 1999). Basic measurement principles of score reliability,
score validity, diagnostic utility, and norms are fundamental aspects
for school and clinical psychologists to apply when selecting a test
or procedure, using the test or procedure, and interpreting test scores
or information from the procedure.
This workshop reviews and extends basic measurement principles that
school and clinical psychologists need to be mindful of and provides
research examples of how each is used for providing empirical support
for tests or other assessment procedures. Such concepts are critical
and should guide everyday practices in the selection and use of tests
and procedures. These concepts are applicable to all approaches including
tests of intelligence, achievement, psychopathology, and Response to
Intervention (RTI) methods.
Because test users are ultimately responsible for the ethical use of
tests including selection, administration, scoring, and interpretation;
it is the test user who must weigh the empirical evidence and deal with
the psychometric issues concerning tests. In the cogent words of Wiener
(1989), ethical psychologists must “(a) know what their tests
can do and (b) act accordingly” (p. 829).
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