Validity

Validity is the meaning, or value, of assessment results or test scores. Whereas reliability refers to the precision of a test or assessment outcome, validity refers to the meaning of the test or assessment out-come. Historically, school psychologists have considered tests to have three forms of validity: content, construct, and criterion (American Education Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1985). Content validity (sometimes known as face validity) refers to examination of test content to establish its meaning. For example, the validity of most academic achievement tests is determined by their content (e.g., mathematics items create a mathematics test). Construct validity refers to the relationship the test has with other variables as an approach to establish meaning. For example, the ...