Fieldtest of the ITC Guidelines for Adapting Educational and Psychological Tests

Abstract

Summary: In 1994, the International Test Commission (ITC) and seven other international organizations published a draft set of guidelines for adapting educational and psychological tests from one language and culture to other languages and cultures. The purposes of the research described in this paper were to (1) fieldtest the ITC Guidelines in an actual test adaptation project and (2) suggest any necessary revisions to the Guidelines. The fieldtest involved the adaptation of a 69-item grade-8 mathematics test from English to Chinese. The results were informative because they highlighted the sorts of problems that arise in test adaptation projects. Also, as the first formal evaluation of the ITC Test Adaptation Guidelines, this work was useful to the ITC in suggesting revisions and clarifications. The findings should also be interesting to psychologists interested in cross-cultural research because the Guidelines are being widely adopted for use around the world and evidence of their validity is important.