ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (Second Edition)

Abstract

The second edition of the International Test Commission Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests was prepared between 2005 and 2015 to improve upon the first edition, and to respond to advances in testing technology and practices. The 18 guidelines are organized into six categories to facilitate their use: pre-condition (3), test development (5), confirmation (4), administration (2), scoring and interpretation (2), and documentation (2). For each guideline, an explanation is provided along with suggestions for practice. A checklist is provided to improve the implementation of the guidelines.

Keywords:

• tests translation
• test adaptation
• test localization
• measurement invariance
• construct equivalence

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF APPRECIATION

The Council of the International Test Commission wishes to thank the six-person committee who worked for several years to produce the second edition of the Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests: Dave Bartram, SHL, UK; Giray Berberoglu, Middle East Technical University, Turkey; Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium; Ronald Hambleton, Committee Chairperson, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA; Jose Muniz, University of Oviedo, Spain; and Fons van de Vijver, University of Tilburg, Netherlands.

Also, the International Test Commission wishes to thank Chad Buckendahl (USA); Anne Herrmann and her colleagues at OPP Ltd. (UK); and April Zenisky at the University of Massachusetts (USA) and Anna Brown at the University of Kent (UK) for their careful review of earlier drafts of the document. The ITC is grateful too to all of the other reviewers from around the world who directly or indirectly have contributed to the second edition of the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests.