Consequential Validity of Early Childhood Assessments: Using Research-Based Early Mathematics Assessment as an Example

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 12:40 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Test Validity Research and Evaluation (Table 34)

Abstract

Consequential validity addresses the social consequences of test use and score inference, which is undoubtedly important in assessing young children’s behavior and cognitive performance equitably in educational settings. However, evidence for consequential validity is rarely reported in applied measurement research and policy-related studies, and there is still much ambiguity regarding how to generate and evaluate relevant evidence. This study discusses methodological issues in evaluating the consequential validity of early childhood assessments. We encourage measurement researchers and practitioners to gather evidence from both item- and scale-level, perceive consequential validity as a continuum, and incorporate population-specific considerations in the process. A real-world early childhood assessment example, the Research-based Early Mathematics Assessment is provided as an illustration.

Authors

• Yixiao Dong, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Douglas H. Clements, University of Denver

• Julie Sarama, University of Denver