"Standardized testing bears the twin burden of controversy and complexity and is difficult for many to understand either dispassionately or technically. In response to this reality, Richard P. Phelps and a team of well-noted measurement specialists describe the current state of public debate about testing across fields, explain and refute the primary criticisms of testing, acknowledge the limitations and undesirable consequences of testing, provide suggestions for improving testing practices, and present a vigorous defense of testing as well as a practical vision for its promise and future." "Those who are charged with translating the science of testing into public information and policy - including administrators, social scientists, test publishers, professors, and journalists who specialize in education and psychology - will find a wealth of valuable information here with which to balance the debate."--BOOK JACKET.

This book examines scholarship, best practice methodologies, and examples of policy and practice from various professional fields in education and psychology to illuminate the elevated emphasis on test fairness in the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Together, the chapters provide a survey of critical and current issues with a view to broadening and contextualizing the fairness guidelines for different types of tests, test takers, and testing contexts. Researchers and practitioners from school psychology, clinical/counseling psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, and education will find the content useful in thinking more acutely about fairness in testing in their work. The book also has chapters that address implications for policy makers, and, in some cases, the public. These discussions are offered as a starting point for future scholarship on the theoretical, empirical, and applied aspects of fairness in testing particularly given the ever-increasing importance of addressing equity in testing.

An easy-to-understand overview of the key concepts of psychological testing Fully updated and revised, the second edition of Essentials of Psychological Testing surveys the basic principles of psychometrics, succinctly presents the information needed to understand and evaluate tests, and introduces readers to the major contemporary reference works in the field. This engaging, practical overview of the most relevant psychometric concepts and techniques provides the foundation necessary for advanced study in the field of psychological assessment. Each clear, well-organized chapter includes new examples and references, featuring callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as “Test Yourself” questions that help gauge and reinforce readers’ grasp of the information covered. The author’s extensive experience and deep understanding of the concepts presented are evident throughout the book, particularly when readers are reminded that tests are tools and that, like all tools, they have limitations. Starting with a basic introduction to psychological tests, their historical development, and their uses, the book also covers the statistical procedures most frequently used in testing, the frames of reference for score interpretation, reliability, validity and test item considerations, as well as the latest guidelines for test selection, administration, scoring and reporting test results. Whether as an orientation for those new to the field, a refresher for those already acquainted with it, or as reference for seasoned clinicians, this book is an invaluable resource. SUSANA URBINA, PHD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of North Florida, where she taught courses in psychological testing and assessment. A Diplomate of the American Board of Assessment Psychology and a licensed psychologist, Dr. Urbina practiced in the field of psychological assessment for over a decade. She coauthored the seventh edition of Psychological Testing with Anne Anastasi and has published numerous articles and reviews in the area of psychological testing.

Methodological Problems with the Academic Sources of Popular Psychology: Context, Inference, and Measurementexamines the relationship between academic and popular psychology from a critical perspective with a focus on issues of methodology. The monograph traces the path from ideas in reputable popular psychology back to the original academic research tradition from which the claims were generated. It also addresses the conceptual and methodological controversies with respect to the original research typically ignored or played down in popular writing. This book covers a range of topics including the question of universal biases in judgment, resurgent notions of “fast” thinking and a cognitive unconscious, the psychology of happiness and other “positive” psychologies, the effects of parenting on child outcomes, and more general issues related to psychological tests and measures. The methodological problems that emerge include problems with generalizing from specific experimental conditions, highly biased sampling, lack of replication of findings, lack of shared referents across subfields, even different authors, as well as confusion around basic statistical and mathematical issues. Methodological Problems with the Academic Sources of Popular Psychology: Context, Inference, and Measurementreviews these issues extensively, offering both a sense of the history and pervasiveness of these issues in the field itself and an opportunity to review and master these difficult ideas.

The Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment is the first book to explore assessment issues and opportunities occurring due to the real world of human, cultural, historical, and societal influences upon assessment practices, policies, and statistical modeling. With chapters written by experts in the field, this book engages with numerous forms of assessment: from classroom-level formative assessment practices to national accountability and international comparative testing practices all of which are significantly influenced by social and cultural conditions. A unique and timely contribution to the field of Educational Psychology, the Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment is written for researchers, educators, and policy makers interested in how social and human complexity affect assessment at all levels of learning. Organized into four sections, this volume examines assessment in relation to teachers, students, classroom conditions, and cultural factors. Each section is comprised of a series of chapters, followed by a discussant chapter that synthesizes key ideas and offers directions for future research. Taken together, the chapters in this volume demonstrate that teachers, test creators, and policy makers must account for the human and social conditions that shape assessment if they are to implement successful assessment practices which accomplish their intended outcomes.

The study of human intelligence features many points of consensus, but there are also many different perspectives. In this unique book Robert J. Sternberg invites the nineteen most highly cited psychological scientists in the leading textbooks on human intelligence to share their research programs and findings. Each chapter answers a standardized set of questions on the measurement, investigation, and development of intelligence - and the outcome represents a wide range of substantive and methodological emphases including psychometric, cognitive, expertise-based, developmental, neuropsychological, genetic, cultural, systems, and group-difference approaches. This is an exciting and valuable course book for upper-level students to learn from the originators of the key contemporary ideas in intelligence research about how they think about their work and about the field.

With the rise of new technologies and media, the way we communicate is rapidly changing. Literacies provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy pedagogy within today's new media environment. It focuses not only on reading and writing, but also on other modes of communication, including oral, visual, audio, gestural and spatial. This focus is designed to supplement, not replace, the enduringly important role of alphabetical literacy. Using real-world examples and illustrations, Literacies features the experiences of both teachers and students. It maps a range of methods that teachers can use to help their students develop their capacities to read, write and communicate. It also explores the wide range of literacies and the diversity of socio-cultural settings in today's workplace, public and community settings. With an emphasis on the 'how-to' practicalities of designing literacy learning experiences and assessing learner outcomes, this book is a contemporary and in-depth resource for literacy students.