Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment: 2017 Annual Report

The Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment (CPTA) held one in person meeting in conjunction with the spring 2017 APA Consolidated Meeting and several conference calls in 2017. The following report summarizes the major issues the committee focused on over the past year.

Guidelines

Members of CPTA continued their engagement in activities related to the development of guidelines for test user qualifications.  In 2018, members of the committee will continue to participate in a joint task force with representative of the Practice community to revise the Guidelines for Test User Qualifications. 

Members of CPTA continued to monitor activities related to organizationally sponsored outreach and educational efforts involving the 2014 edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.

Policy Statements

Members of the committee continued participation in the development and revision of policy initiatives related to observers in the resting situation and the release of test data. 

Members of CPTA completed and made available for distribution an informational document focused on issues related to test security.

The members of CPTA continued to monitor the activities of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an international standards organization whose members include various countries from around the world; and the International Test Commission (ITC) of which APA is an organizational member.

Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education (CPSE)

CPTA continued its participation in the activities of the Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education (CPSE). Dr. Patrick Kyllonen was the CPTA representative to group, and as such, attended both meetings of the group in 2017.

Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE)

Dr. Jennifer Merriman is the APA/CPTA representative to the Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (JCSEE). In her capacity as the APA representative to the JCSEE, Dr. Merriman attended one face to face, and one virtual, meeting of the group in 2017. She also continued to participate in the revision of two JCSEE publications, the Personnel Evaluation Standards (in Education) and the Program Evaluation Standards.

CPTA continued to address a variety of assessment related policy issues in 2017. Most notably, members of the committee continued to provided support for APA’s Educational Advocacy efforts. Members of the committee also continued to monitor relevant activities involving the continued implementation of various state supported educational standards.

In 2017, CPTA members included, Lisa D. Stanford, PhD, chair, Jamilia Blake, PhD, David M. Corey, PhD, Laura Gutierrez, PsyD, Patrick Kyllonen, PhD, Rochelle S. Michel, PhD, Fred Oswald, PhD, Ann Marie Ryan, PhD, and Susan Whiston, PhD.

In 2017, CPTA consisted of six females and three males. One member is Hispanic, two are black/African American and six are white/Caucasian. One member is an Early Career Psychologist (ECP). At their fall 2017 meeting, the members of CPTA elected Dr. Fred Oswald as chair of the committee for 2018.