More than 100 on-site attendees and 750 online viewers from at least 15 countries turned out September 12 for a Capitol Hill briefing on the just-released 2014 edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. The event, held by AERA, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, addressed key takeaways and major changes in the new edition. The 2014 edition reflects a long-term collaborative project of the three sponsoring organizations. A video recording of the briefing is available online.
Steven J. Breckler, executive director of the American Psychological Association's Science Directorate, introduced the briefing with an overview of the Testing Standards project. Wayne Camara, Chair of the Management Committee with oversight of this project and senior vice president of research for ACT, provided historical notes and background on the publication, including information about previous editions, the purpose of the publication, and role of the joint committee.
Featured speakers at the briefing included co-chairs of the Joint Committee on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing Barbara Plake, professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Lauress Wise, principal scientist at the Human Resources Research Organization. They outlined the major changes in the 2014 edition, including new or updated treatment of topics related to new and emerging technologies.
Plake also addressed the treatment of fairness in the new edition and Wise spoke on the treatment of validity. Laura Hamilton, senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation and a member of the Joint Committee, described the treatment of accountability in the new edition. Following an engaging question-and-answer session, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine provided a closing statement and emphasized the value of the Testing Standards as guidance to motivate the highest standard of science and scientific integrity.
A copy of the full Powerpoint presentation from the event is available for download. A Storify recap of the Twitter conversation, which included 492 tweets from 89 participants, is also posted online.
The Testing Standards is a joint project of the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education.