De-“Constructing” Test Validation

Abstract

Construct validity theory presents the most comprehensive description of “validity” as it pertains to educational and psychological testing. The term “construct validity” was introduced in 1954 in the Technical Recommendations for Psychological Tests and Diagnostic Techniques (American Psychological Association [APA], 1954), and subsequently elucidated by two members of the 1954 committee — Cronbach and Meehl (1955). Construct validity theory has had enormous impact on the theoretical descriptions of validity, but it was not explicitly supported by the last two versions of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA] et al., 1999, 2014). In this article I trace some of the history of the debate regarding the importance of construct validity theory for test val- idation, identify the essential elements of construct validity theory that are critical for validating the use of a test for a particular purpose, and propose a framework for test validation that focuses on test use, rather than test construct. This “de-constructed” approach involves four steps: (a) clearly articulating testing purposes, (b) identifying potential negative consequences of test use, (c) crossing test purposes and potential misuses with the five sources of validity evidence listed in the AERA et al. (2014) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, and (d) prioritizing the sources of validity evidence needed to build a sound validity argument that focuses on test use and consequences. The goals of deconstructed validation are to embrace the major tenets involved in construct validity theory by using them to develop a coherent and comprehensive validity argument that is comprehensible to psychometricians, court justices, policy makers, and the general public; and is consistent with the AERA et al. (2014) Standards.