APA's Council of Representatives Endorses New Standards For Testing, High School Psychology

VOLUME 30 , NUMBER 9 October 1999

APA's Council of Representatives endorses new standards for testing, high school psychology

By year's end, psychologists and other professionals who design and use educational and psychological tests--from diagnostics for mental illness to aptitude tests for schools--will have a new set of standards guiding their work.

During its August meeting, APA's Council of Representatives unanimously approved the latest revision of "Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing," which is jointly authored by APA, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). The last version was published in 1985.

The standards guide the sound and ethical use of tests and recommend ways for evaluating the quality of tests and testing practices. The final standards book, which should be available by November, will be divided into three sections:

Test construction, evaluation and documentation, which includes a discussion of how to test the validity and reliability of a test, as well as best practices for administering, scoring and reporting tests.

Fairness in testing, which includes information on the rights and responsibilities of test takers and explores issues around testing people with special needs.

Testing applications, which includes a discussion of the issues specific to certain types of testing situations, including psychological testing, educational testing and employment testing.

The document is longer and more extensive than in past years, with introductions and background material added to each chapter to allow use of the standards for teaching students about testing methodology.

In addition, the individual standards are no longer labeled as "primary," "secondary" and "conditional." The committee that produced the final version wanted people to consider all the standards rather than ignore a standard because it wasn't labeled "primary," says Paul Sacket, PhD, chair of the committee.

The standards also don't reduce test construction to a "cookbook" form, he says. Instead, they leave a lot of flexibility in how to measure a test's validity based on the specific needs of the test and the claims of the test developers. Those who want a rigid "how to" booklet will be disappointed in the revision, says Sacket. But most psychologists will find it refreshingly flexible, he said.

The standards are now undergoing the final step of the process, the production of the book. Ordering information will be widely publicized on APA's Web Site when available.

The standards will be published by AERA, available through all three sponsoring organizations, and at a discounted price to members. (More detailed information on the testing standards will appear in the December Monitor.)

Teaching of high school psychology

APA's council also approved a set of standards for teaching psychology to high school students. The standards, "represent a vision of what students should know and be able to do after completing the high school psychology course," according to the APA task force charged with drafting them.

Recognizing that most Americans are introduced to psychology in high school, in March 1994 APA's Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) recommended that the association develop standards for teaching high school psychology.

The Board of Educational Affairs supported the idea, and the Council of Representatives created a Task Force on High School Psychology Standards.

APA has revised the standards several times based on comments from members as well as outside reviewers. The association hopes these nonbinding standards will be used by policy-makers, educational leaders, curriculum developers, teachers, parents and any other groups that have a stake in high school education.

And, according to Laura Maitland, the chair of the task force, "Dissemination of this document may become the impetus for including introductory psychology in the course offerings of an increasing number of school districts throughout the United States."

Other action

In other action, the council:

Endorsed a resolution of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to safeguard communication among international scientists. While recognizing the need for security among nations, scientists oppose government efforts to restrict unclassified research among U.S. scientists and their international colleagues. The resolution emphasizes that intellectual scientific discourse is "apolitical, beneficial to all peoples, and can promote constructive cooperation, despite political differences, among nations." The resolution also speaks out against the use of immigration laws or other measures that ban foreign visitors or restrict travel by U.S. scientists.

Allocated $10,000 from its contingency funds for reprinting and electronically disseminating materials on APA's National Conversation on Psychology and Racism. The materials--including an annotated bibliography on racism first printed in 1997 and a racism brochure printed earlier this year--continue to be in high demand by graduate students, government officials, high school and college teachers and community organizations.

Designated 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace, supporting the United Nation's label for the year. The event seeks to promote human rights, tolerance, democracy, the free flow of information, nonviolence, sustainable development, peace education and equality of men and women.

Approved a dispute mechanism to help resolve conflicts between APA divisions. In the event of a dispute between two or more divisions, APA's Committee on Division/APA Relations (CODAPAR) encourages informal dispute resolutions through direct negotiations and conciliation between conflicted divisions. CODAPAR will help divisions resolve their differences when asked to. It is also within council's power to address any conflict between or among divisions.

Confirmed 132 members to APA Fellow status. Fellows are members who are actively engaged in advancing psychology, have at least five years of professional experience after earning their doctoral degrees, and have shown evidence of "unusual and outstanding contribution or performance" in the psychology field. APA now has 4,608 Fellows.

--B. Azar and S. Martin

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