THE INTERSECTION OF TEST IMPACT, VALIDATION, AND EDUCATIONAL REFORM POLICY

The present article addresses the intersection of policy, validity, and impact within the context of educational reform in U.S. schools, looking in particular at the No Child Left Behind Act 2001 (NCLB, Public Law 107–110). The discussion focuses on the relationship between validity and impact and, in turn, on the responsibility of test developers and users in investigating impact. It is argued that the position articulated in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education [AERA, APA, and NCME], 1999) regarding validation deserves reexamination given the merged roles of developers and users under NCLB. The article also introduces the concept of social impact analysis (SIA) from fields such as anthropology, sociology, and environmental science to argue for an expansion of the traditional conceptualization of impact research. SIA promotes a proactive rather than a reactive approach to impact, in order to inform policy formulation upfront.