Assessment Research: An Assessment and Recommended Interventions

Abstract

Assessment has been and will continue to be a major focus in school psychological practice and research. Although there is currently considerable variation in the content, quality, and orientation of our assessment research, this article highlights three common problems with much of that research. These problems include: (a) the need to adopt a hypothesis testing approach, (b) the need for research to be guided by available formal and informal theory, and (c) the need for research to be consistent with general school psychological practice. This article also highlights new research methodologies (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis) and new research directions (e.g., curriculum-based assessment) which should become more commonplace in research and which offer promise of improving our research and practice. There is much to criticize in our assessment research, but also much to be proud of; it should continue to be an exciting field for interested researchers.