Consideraciones eticas

HE SECOND CENTURY O ABILITY TESTING: SOME ECTURE L eries eries S REDICTIONS AND SPECU ONS THE SECOND THE OND CENTURY OF CEN RY ABILITY TESTING: O ESTING: SOME SOME PR AND PREDICTIONS SPEC LATIONS AND THE SEC URY SPECULATIONS OF ABILITY TESTING: SOME EDICTIONS AND SPECUL
MEMORIAL

BY SUSAN E. EMBRETSON

Research and Development Policy Information Center

William H. Angoff
1919 - 1993William H. Angoff was a distinguished research scientist at ETS for more than forty years. During that time, he made many major contributions to educational measurement and authored some of the classic publications on psychometrics, including the definitive text “Scales, Norms, and Equivalent Scores,” which appeared in Robert L. Thorndike’s Educational Measurement. Dr. Angoff was noted not only forhis commitment to the highest technical standards but also for his rare ability to make complex issues widely accessible. The Memorial Lecture Series established in his name in 1994

honors Dr. Angoff’s legacy by encouraging and supporting the discussion of public interest issues related to educational measurement. The annual lectures are jointly sponsored by ETS and an endowment fund that wasestablished in Dr. Angoff’s memory. The William H. Angoff Lecture Series reports are published by the Policy Information Center, which was established by the ETS Board of Trustees in 1987 and charged with serving as an influential and balanced voice in American education.

Copyright 2003 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. Educational Testing Service is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Educational Testing Service, ETS, and the ETS logos are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.

THE SECOND CENTURY OF ABILITY TESTING: SOME PREDICTIONS AND SPECULATIONS

The seventh annual William H.

MEMORIAL

Angoff Memorial Lecture was presented at Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, on January 11, 2001.

L eries SeriesECTURE

Susan E. Embretson University of Kansas Department of Psychology

Educational Testing Service Policy Information Center Princeton, NJ 08541-0001

PREFACE

The ETS Policy Information Center is pleased to publish the seventh annual William H. Angoff Memorial Lecture, given at ETS on January 11, 2001, by Dr. Susan Embretson of the University of Kansas. The William H. Angoff MemorialLecture Series was established in 1994 to honor the life and work of Bill Angoff, who died in January 1993. For more than 50 years, Bill made major contributions to educational and psychological measurement and was deservedly recognized by the major societies in the field. In line with Bill’s interests, this lecture series is devoted to relatively nontechnical discussions of important public interestissues related to educational measurement. Dr. Embretson reviews the major developments in test theory, concepts, and methods that occurred during the 20th century—the first century of ability testing—and makes some predictions about developments that are likely to occur in this new century of testing. She predicts that the integration of cognitive theory together with advances in psychometricswill bring major, exciting changes in test development procedures, task design, and the range of abilities that are assessed. The research foundations and technology that will support these advances are being developed now and are likely to continue at an accelerating pace as we move into the second century of ability testing. I believe that this lecture offers readers, regardless of technicalbackground, a comprehensive introduction to the issues that have surrounded testing in the past and those issues that will be of concern in the future. Drew Gitomer Senior Vice President ETS Research & Development January 2003

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ABSTRACT

Dazzling changes in many areas, such as technology and communications, marked the 20th century—the first century of ability testing. Predictions about the...