Establishing Test Validity and Reliability

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the concepts, conditions, types, and statistical measures associated with educational test reliability and test validity from Lesson 6.

Test Reliability

The consistency of the scores obtained, reflecting how consistent they are for each individual from one administration of an instrument to another and from one set of items to another.

Three Conditions for Test Reliability

The three necessary conditions for consistency: being retested on the same person, being retested on the same measure, and having similarity of responses across items that measure the same characteristic.

Factors That Affect Test Reliability

The three elements that influence score consistency: the number of items in a test, the individual differences of participants, and the external environment.

Test-Retest Reliability

A method of establishing test reliability by administering the exact same test to the same group of individuals on two separate occasions to evaluate score consistency over time.

Parallel Forms Reliability

A method of establishing reliability that involves administering two different but equivalent forms of an assessment to the same participants and comparing the results.

Split-Half Reliability

A method of establishing test reliability where a single test is divided into two comparable halves to measure the consistency of scores between both halves.

Within Test Consistency

A method of establishing test reliability that examines the internal consistency and cohesion of responses across items measuring the same construct within a single test.

Inter-Rater Reliability

A method of establishing reliability that assesses the degree of agreement or consistency between two or more independent raters or observers scoring the same performance.

Statistical Analyses to Determine Reliability

The statistical procedures used to evaluate assessment reliability, including Linear Regression, Pearson $r$ Correlation, Cronbach's alpha ($\alpha$), and Kendall's $\omega$ (or tau) coefficient.

Cronbach's Alpha ($\alpha$)

A statistical measure of internal consistency reliability interpreted through benchmark tiers: $\alpha \ge 0.9$ (Excellent), $0.9 > \alpha \ge 0.8$ (Good), $0.8 > \alpha \ge 0.7$ (Acceptable), $0.7 > \alpha \ge 0.6$ (Questionable), $0.6 > \alpha \ge 0.5$ (Poor), and $0.5 > \alpha$ (Unacceptable).

Test Validity

The extent to which an instrument measures what it is designed to measure, as well as the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of the specific decisions made by an educator based on the test results.

Content Validity

The degree of correspondence between the test content and the content of the instructional materials to be evaluated, comprising both subject matter content and instructional objectives.

Subject Matter Content

The dimension of content validity that concerns the specific subject areas or topics intended to be covered on an assessment.

Instructional Objectives

The dimension of content validity that concerns the expected degree of learning and skill mastery that students are supposed to achieve.

Face Validity

The superficial appearance of a test to examinees, instructors, administrators, and testing specialists (including layout, format arrangement, and font), which in a technical sense is not actual validity but simply whether the test looks valid on its face.

Predictive Validity

A form of criterion-related validity established by correlating test performance with scores on a criterion measured after a designated time interval to evaluate how accurately the test forecasts future performance.

Concurrent Validity

A form of criterion-related validity established by administering a newly developed assessment and an established criterion measure at the exact same time and computing the correlation coefficient between the two sets of scores.

Construct Validity

The extent to which test components or factors contain items that are strongly correlated with the underlying theoretical trait, verified through advanced statistical procedures known as factor analysis.

Convergent Validity

A subtype of construct validity reflecting how closely a new scale relates to other instruments and variables measuring the same construct, demonstrated when test components or factors exhibit a hypothesized positive correlation.

Divergent Validity

A subtype of construct validity established when the components or factors of a test are hypothesized to have a negative correlation, such as correlating test scores of intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation.