The 5th ITC International Conference on Psychological and Educational Test Adaptation across Language and Cultures
 

Over the past 15 years or so the number of educational and psychological tests being translated and adapted for use in cross-national and cross-cultural settings has increased enormously.  Cross-national studies such as TIMSS and OECD/PISA have required educational tests to be made available in over 50 languages. In clinical, education, health and I/O psychology, many tests are available in multiple languages, as well as credentialing exams in medicine, the information technology industry, accounting, the securities industry, and many more. Proper interpretation of results requires that the translations and adaptations of these tests be correctly carried out.
The International Test Commission (ITC) Guidelines for Test Adaptation, published in 2001, have been helpful to researchers and testing agencies wanting to improve their test adaptation practices. These guidelines were first presented formally at the 1999 ITC Conference on Test Adaptations held at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Indeed, the period since the 1999 conference has witnessed enormous growth in both researcher interest and applied methodological procedures associated with test translation and adaptation.  
 
Main Goal of the Conference

To bring together experts on the topic of test translation and adaptation theory and practices with researchers, educators, psychologists, policy experts, and testing specialists for the purpose of sharing insights, guidelines, and research findings.

Sample of Issues Considered at the Conference

Presentation and discussion of the second edition of the ITC guidelines for test adaptation; advances in test adaptation methodology (such as investigations of construct, method, and item bias); review of advances for the adaptation of educational testing, credentialing exams, and psychological tests; challenges associated with computer-based testing; issues and methodological approaches to testing for validity invariance across cultures and languages; comparison and equating of test scores across cultures; test ownership and adaptation; international comparative studies of educational achievement.
 

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