On-line Readings in Testing and Assessment (ORTA)

Editors: Cheryl Foxcroft (South Africa) and Marise Born (The Netherlands)
Technical editor: René Butter (The Netherlands)
Editorial team member: Gerianne de Klerk (South Africa)
Language editor: Peg Lorraine (USA)

As soon as new readings are received, these will be added

1 Origin and basis of testing and assessment

• Historical perspectives
• Nature and use of tests and measurements
• Defining and measuring psychological and educational attributes

2 Psychometric principles of psychological and educational measurement

• Basic concepts in measurement and statistics
  • Dichotomous variables
• Test theory
• Classical test theory
• Item Response theory (Rasch, Mokken)
• Norms and their uses
• Reliability
• Validity
• Item Analysis
  

3 General psychological attributes

• Intelligence (general and separate abilities)
• Personality
• Interests

4 Test development

• Process of test development
  • Item writing
• Computerized testing and Internet tests
  • The internet and testing
  • Computer-based testing
• Good practices for test developers
• Reviewing tests
• Preparing psychometricians

5 Test use

• Test delivery, administration and scoring
• Feedback and reporting
• Preparing assessment practitioners in applied settings
• Testing individuals with special needs
• Fair practices in testing and test use
• Test motivation, test anxiety, test attitudes
• Rights and responsibilities of test-takers
• Test security
  • New technology and security risks
  • The relationship between security and validity
  • Standards of security
  • How to cheat or steal questions
  • New analyses for security
    

6 Educational Testing

• Developing and Using Educational Tests
• Individual and institutional decision making
• Credentialing examinations
• Special considerations when testing children

7 Occupational Testing

• Measures of Job Performance
• Validity of Personnel Tests
• Measuring complex skills (high fidelity simulations, work samples)
• Selection interviews and the assessment center
• Validation strategies
• Testing in the Military
• Occupational Integrity Testing

8 Clinical Testing

• Diagnostic Testing
• Clinical Tests
• Clinical Judgment
• Neuropsychological Assessment
• Health-related assessment

9 Cross-cultural Testing

• Test adaptation methodology
• Item bias
• Using tests in cross-cultural and multicultural settings
  • Testing in other cultures and languages
  • Cross-cultural testing

10 Testing and Society

• Social implications and ethics of testing
• Critical discussion: alternatives to psychological tests
• Tests, policy making and politics
• Geriatric assessment, assessment of aging
• Forensic and psycholegal testing
• Future perspectives