ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended to give an outline of the methods used to develop tests and some other forms of assessment. Sound test development entails careful thought and well organized development work. A test manual should contain evidence of how the test was devised, and the user should look for this information so as to take it into account when judging the quality and aptness of a test. Furthermore, during an era when teachers will increasingly have to devise their own curricular assessments to use alongside SATs or in the intervening keystage periods, some of the procedures could be helpful. The reasons for this are twofold: (i) the assessment would have an explicit basis, and (ii) they could be justified or defended in a rational way.
