Competence Assessment

Abstract

In the 1960s, two developments provided insights into the interpretation of educational measurements; later, in the 1980s, when powerful, accessible computing technology became available, the value of the two developments became more apparent. Rasch (1960, Some probabilistic models for the measurement of attainment and intelligence. MESA Press, Chicago, 1980) and Glaser (Am Psychol 18:519–521, 1963, Am Psychol 36:923–936, 1981) each opened new ways of thinking about learning and measurement, and proposed the concept of underlying growth continua, or latent traits. They reasoned that the nature of these traits could be defined by the tasks that students performed; if the tasks were to be arranged in order of their increasing amounts of attribute required (student capability), then the nature of the trait could be defined by the nature and order of the tasks and the skills they demanded. Development of learning or competence could be traced by following progress along the trait or growth continuum. Glaser (Am Psychol 18:519–521, 1963) proposed the concept of criterion-referenced interpretation of assessments. Like Rasch (1960, Some probabilistic models for the measurement of attainment and intelligence. MESA Press, Chicago, 1980), he described performance and development in terms of the nature and order of tasks performed. Initially, when criterion-referenced interpretations of assessment were used, observations were referred (or compared) directly to a single, fixed level of achievement or pre-specified criterion. An earlier version of this chapter was published in the Jornal of Education Evaluation; republished with permission.