ABSTRACT
Validity is the central issue in evaluating the appropriateness of all forms of assessment
and must remain the critical criterion guiding assessment development, applications, and
the use of assessment results. The analysis and evaluation of validity, however, has
become increasingly complex because of changes in three major areas of educational
activity. These major areas include curriculum reform efforts, greater emphasis on
constructedresponse assessment formats that support the curriculum reforms, and a
reconceptualization of validity as a unitary characteristic of assessment organized under
the superordinate concept of construct validity.
