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.
