Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing

Purpose of the Standards

The intent of the third edition of the Standards is to promote sound and ethical use of tests and to provide a basis for evaluating the quality of testing practices by providing a frame of reference to assure that all relevant issues are addressed. Like its predecessors, the third edition attempts to reflect professional consensus regarding expectations for the development, validation, and use of educational and psychological tests. The Standards is intended to speak broadly to individuals (e.g., students, parents, teachers, administrators, job applicants, employees, clients, patients, supervisors, executives, and evaluators, among others), institutions (e.g., schools, colleges, businesses, industry, clinics, and government agencies), and society as a whole about tests and testing. The Standards can be used to help test publishers decide how to develop, validate, and present tests. The Standards can also be used by test users (those who administer tests) to select, use, and evaluate tests. The Standards does not attempt to provide psychometric answers to public policy issues that involve testing. Instead, the Standards encourages making relevant technical information about tests and testing available so that those involved in policy development may be fully informed.

Organization of the Standards

The current revision of the Standards contains three parts. Part I addresses test construction, evaluation, and documentation; Part II discusses fairness in testing; and Part III covers testing applications. The standards that apply to the development of tests and those that are of interest to test publishers appear primarily in Part I. The standards identified in Part II and Part III apply primarily, but not exclusively, to test users.

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