Chapter 8: Validity in Action: State Assessment Validity Evidence for Compliance with NCLB

This chapter describes validity evidence required in peer reviews for compliance with NCLB requirements for state assessment systems and makes recommendations about acceptable validity evidence. We first examined available 2007 Title I peer review outcomes for each state in order to identify what are the most salient elements of validity documentation in actual use. In addition, we studied validity evidence from five state peer review reports and summarized peer reviewers’ comments. We also reviewed the validity evidence contained in their technical reports by states whose assessment systems had been approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Finally, we discuss several features in the assessment and accountability program review process that pose some unique challenges in developing evidence for establishing validity and describe a source of validity evidence that seems appropriate for this use.