Dr. Fred Davidson (University of Illinois, U.S.A.)
Language Assessment: a Specification-Driven Approach
A test specification is a blueprint-like document from which many equivalent test tasks can be produced. It links test items (i.e., questions), prompts, and rating systems to theory, to curricula, and to inevitable practical constraints.
In the opening lecture, we explore the central role of test specifications ('specs'), including their conceptual history and position in the philosophy of educational and psychological measurement. This includes critical analysis of some example specs. In the balance of the course, we create and revise test specs in much greater detail. Credit students will then complete a final project in which they design and critique a test spec on their own. One goal is to exit the course with a packet of test blueprints in an early version, awaiting further trialing and refinement. A more important goal is to exit with critical skills to write test specs in students' own language education settings and thus improve the validity arguments of their assessments.
For example, if the scoring descriptors for a writing exam mention "plausible" supports for a thesis statement, it is common to critically reflect on what "plausible" means. However, it is much better if a consensus definition can be recorded for the creation of future prompts, for teachers who prepare students for the test, for students who take it, and for other stakeholders. That is what specs do, and in so doing, it is how they contribute to meaningful score inferences and help build stronger validity arguments.