This presentation will discuss the conceptual underpinnings of assessment capacity and its relevance as a conceptual tool for examining assessment and assessment-related activities and instruments at multiple levels of practice and analysis. It will share experience from emerging research on assessment capacity and will provide contextual information needed for the audience to benefit from the other presentations in the symposium.
Assessment capacity refers to the ability of an entity (e.g., individual, organization, jurisdiction) to adequately address its assessment needs. The range of such assessment needs is wide—from clearly establishing assessment goals to developing sound assessment activities or instruments to analyzing assessment data to making valid interpretations of assessment results to making informed instructional decisions based on test scores. It involves the interplay of multiple dimensions (including human resources, infrastructure, education legislation) whose relevance is shaped by context (history, culture, society) and the nature of the assessing entity (e.g., teacher, school, country).
Examining assessment capacity entails a systemic view of validity. According to this systemic view, validity is not only about the characteristics of tests and the interpretation of the scores they produce. Among many other things, it is also about the extent to which sociocultural contexts relevant to the populations tested are properly sampled during the process of test development. Available evidence from international testing indicates that countries with low assessment capacity (e.g., countries with limited experience in testing, lack of professionals in psychometrics, little or no legislation on assessment, and restricted financial support to assessment activities) are poorly represented in the process of development of international tests. As a result of this under-representation, their sociocultural contexts are not reflected in the contexts of test items.