2004 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS AND ASSESSMENT

Jerry Sweet, Ph.D., Chair

In 2004, the Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment (CPTA) held two meetings, one in conjunction with the APA Consolidated Meetings in March, the other as part of the APA fall meeting schedule in October. The following report summarizes the major issues the Committee focused on over the past year.

Position Statements: CPTA continued revisions on two position statements in 2004:

(i) Observers in the Testing Situation: In the late 1990's, CPTA noted that psychologists are frequently asked to allow others to observe testing sessions (e.g., in educational, clinical, and forensic settings). In response, members of CPTA developed a statement providing guidance to psychologists who are asked to allow observers into the testing situation. The statement focused primarily on lawyers observing clients and parents observing children during testing. CPTA believes that for reasons of test security, validity, and preservation of standardization, third parties should be discouraged from observing test administration. Members of CPTA are currently working with representatives of APA governance to clarify this position and to finalize the document.

(ii) Disclosure of Test Data: Final provisions approved as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the revision of the APA Ethics Code prompted CPTA members to begin revision of the CPTA authored document on the disclosure of test data in 2003. A sub-committee of CPTA continued with revisions efforts in 2004.

Task Force on Psychological Testing on the Internet: A 32 page version of the 75 page report of the BSA-BPA Task Force on Psychological Testing on the Internet was published in the American Psychologist (AP) in April 2004. Both versions of the report contain a review of current practices applied to Internet-based psychological testing and assessment. They explore the psychometric, ethical, legal, and practical implications of Internet based testing and assessment, and address issues concerning test validity, test administration, test protection, and test-taker confidentiality.

Convention Session: CPTA sponsored a symposium entitled, “Challenges for Psychological Testing in Asia” at the APA annual convention in Honolulu, Hawaii. The chair of the symposium was Deniz S Ones, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota. Presenters included, Fanny Cheung, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, “The Adaptation and Application of the Chinese MMPI 2” and Frederick Leong, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, “Conceptual, Methodological, and Practical Problems in Exporting Psychological Tests to Asia.” Barbara M. Byrne, PhD, Professor, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada served as the symposium discussant.

International Test Commission (ITC)
Members of CPTA recommended that BSA appoint Committee member, Barbara Byrne, PhD as the APA representative to the (ITC) for a three-year term beginning in 2004. BSA approved CPTA's recommendation and Dr. Byrne represented APA at the annual meeting of the ITC in Beijing, China, August 7-8, 2004.

Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE)
Members of CPTA recommended that BSA appoint Committee member, Jeffrey Braden, PhD as the APA representative to the JCSEE for a three-year term beginning in 2004. BSA approved CPTA's recommendation that Dr. Braden be selected as APA's representative to the JCSEE.

Joint Committee on Testing Practices (JCTP): CPTA oversees the activities of the JCTP for APA. In February, The APA Council of Representatives approved the JCTP Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education. In October, CPTA approved a JCTP proposal for the development of a working group on Best Practices for Educational Test Users in the Use of Technology-Delivered Assessment.

CPTA Collaborations: CPTA and members of the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) finalized revisions to a bibliography on testing and assessment with ethnic minority populations. The bibliography was posted on the CPTA and CEMA websites in early 2004.

During their meeting in October, CPTA and members of the Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology (CDIP) discussed several areas for future collaboration. To facilitate communications between the two committees, CPTA appointed Jeffrey Braden, PhD as the CPTA liaison to CDIP.

CPTA continued its participation in the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. Its liaison to the Coalition, Tom Kubiszyn attended two meetings of the group in 2004.

Science Directorate's “PSY21” Initiative: At its October meeting, members of CPTA proposed several testing and assessment related program options as part of their discussion of the new Science Directorate sponsored “PSY21” initiative. Topics for program development included: exploring the extent to which the ethical use of testing is covered as part of National Institute of Health's training in the “Responsible Conduct of Research,” and the future of psychometric training. Additionally, members of CPTA discussed plans for the development of the following: an Advanced Training Institute (ATI) workshop on Structural Equation Modeling; a presentation on quantitative psychology to be incorporated into the Science Directorate's Exploring Behavior Week program; and an article for the APA Science Directorate's Interesting Careers in Psychology series highlighting the careers of psychologists involved in testing and assessment.

Policy Issues: CPTA continued to address a variety of policy issues in 2004. Most notably, assessment provisions proposed as part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Head Start. Regarding IDEA, members of CPTA discussed potential consequences of the change in Learning Disabilities determination language contained in the newly reauthorized IDEA. In 2005, members of CPTA will continue to address this issue in conjunction with other APA directorates, as well as issues related to assessment as part of the reauthorization of Head Start.

Diversity is represented in the membership of CPTA. In 2004, members of CPTA included: Jerry Sweet, PhD (Chair), Achilles N. Bardos, PhD, Jeffrey Braden, PhD, Barbara Byrne, PhD, Tom Kubiszyn, PhD, Frederick T.L. Leong, PhD, Deniz S. Ones, PhD, Freddy Paniagua, PhD, and Rebecca Zwick, PhD

During the October meeting, members of CPTA elected Deniz Ones, Ph.D. as Chair for 2005.