Foundational Challenges to Foundational Competencies: Debating the Task Force Report

Session Type: Organized Discussion

Abstract

What are “foundational competencies in educational measurement”? What knowledge, skills, and abilities must modern students of educational measurement possess in order to continue learning in our field? In March of 2023, a 12-member NCME Presidential Task Force delivered a report answering these questions, identifying three competency domains and five competency subdomains, and demonstrating how educational measurement careers and curricula develop these competencies. In this symposium, presenters will put the Task Force Report to the test by challenging the framework along four substantive dimensions.

First, Alina von Davier argues that the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence demands greater emphasis on intersections between computational competencies and educational measurement competencies. Second, Pohai Kukea Shultz recommends a stronger emphasis on community engagement as a necessary condition for valid use. Third, Sue Brookhart shows how Task Force competencies compare to the 2015 Classroom Assessment Standards and argues that the frameworks should interact. Fourth, Kristen Huff discusses how the Task Force framework can advance the revision of the 2014 AERA/APA/NCME Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, particularly with respect to issues of Fairness and Context. Derek Briggs, who charged the Task Force when he was NCME President, will moderate discussion among presenters and the audience.

Sub Unit

• Individual Papers, Innovation Demonstrations, Coordinated Sessions, or Organized Discussions

Session Organizer

• Andrew Ho, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Moderator

• Derek Christian Briggs, University of Colorado Boulder

Presenters

• Alina A. von Davier, Duolingo

• Pohai Kukea Shultz, University of Hawaii at Manoa

• Susan Brookhart, Duquesne University

• Kristen Huff, Curriculum Associates