RELIABILITY OF CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS: A DECISION-THEORETIC FORMULATION

It has been suggested that the primary purpose for criterion-referenced testing in objective-based instructional programs is to classify examinees into mastery states or categories on the objectives included in the test. We have proposed that the reliability of the criterion-referenced test scores be defined in terms of the consistency of the decision-making process across repeated administrations of the test. Specifically, reliability is defined as a measure of agreement over and above that which can be expected by chance between the decisions made about examinee mastery states in repeated test administrations for each objective measured by the criterion-referenced test.     

TOWARD AN INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND METHOD FOR CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS1,2

In this paper, an attempt has been made to synthesize some of the current thinking in the area of criterion-referenced testing as well as to provide the beginning of an integration of theory and method for such testing. Since criterion-referenced testing is viewed from a decision-theoretic point of view, approaches to reliability and validity estimation consistent with this philosophy are suggested. Also, to improve the decision-making accuracy of criterion-referenced tests, a Bayesian procedure for estimating true mastery scores has been proposed. This Bayesian procedure uses information about other members of a student's group (collateral information), but the resulting estimation is still criterion referenced rather than norm referenced in that the student is compared to a standard rather than to other students. In theory, the Bayesian procedure increases the “effective length” of the test by improving the reliability, the validity, and more importantly, the decision-making accuracy of the criterion-referenced test scores.     

Using the Workshop in Consultation Training

Although graduate students should be trained in consulting as well as counseling skills, not all counselor education programs systematically teach such consultation skills. Counselor trainees need to practice and implement those skills in laboratory as well as field settings. Workshops have been used successfully to teach oral delivery consultation skills in a counselor training program. In this article, the workshop is offered as a training tool in consultation skills. The use and purposes of workshops are presented, and procedures are demonstrated regarding the use of workshops within counselor education courses. Benefits to counselor trainees are discussed.