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In this workshop, Drs. Foley & Buckendahl illustrated how visual displays can help inform steps of the test development and validation process, from program design to item writing and review to communicating results through score reporting. Relevant examples of visual displays were provided for various development activities in a range of testing settings (e.g., education, licensure, certification). Attendees were provided step-by-step instruction on how to create the various displays using readily available software (i.e., Microsoft Excel 2010).

Much of the content of the workshop was related to a forthcoming chapter in the edited volume Learning through Visual Displays (Schraw, McCrudden, & Robinson, Eds.; 2013). The abstract for the chapter is shown here:

The development of an assessment program draws on the expertise of testing professionals for procedural guidance and the judgment and knowledge of subject matter experts (SMEs) who are familiar with the content and testing population of interest. In addition to development, consumers of test results (e.g., students, parents, candidates, policymakers), rely on score reports and related documentation to help interpret test scores. In this chapter, we discuss how visual displays can help inform steps of the test development and validation process, from program design to item writing and review to score reporting. Relevant examples of visual displays are provided for various development activities in a range of testing settings (e.g., education, licensure, certification).

Foley, B.P., & Buckendahl, C.W. (2013). Using visual displays to inform assessment design and development. In Gregg Schraw, Matt McCrudden, & Dan Robinson (Editors). Learning through visual displays. Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC.

For more information on the workshop or forthcoming book chapter, contact Brett Foley at Brett.Foley@alpinetesting.com