The Crisis in Measurement Literacy in Psychology and Education

Abstract

The future of measurement in psychology and education in the decades to come will depend on the availability of measurement faculty in our universities, the range of measurement offerings on our campuses, and the standards for measurement literacy reflected in the preparation of psychological and educational professionals, in criteria for professional program accreditation, and in standards for licenses and credentials for psychological and educational practice. In this article, I argue that, by becoming aware of the inadequate supply of future psychometricians and the range of coverage of both classical and modern test theory in undergraduate and graduate courses on our university campuses, psychologists can promote measurement literacy among future professional psychologists and educators. In our efforts to promote measurement literacy, we should acknowledge the excellent work of our colleagues who contributed to the revised Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and the several other testing documents that have been published subsequently as well as the current efforts of the Joint Committee on Testing Practices and its subcommittees. Although these documents support raising the level of measurement literacy among education and psychology professionals, the documents will not lead us far toward the goal of minimal standards for measurement literacy, unless we, measurement professionals, carry the movement (a) back to our places of work and (b) outward to the various committees involved in proposals for revising national standards in all fields dependent on measurement literacy for competent practices.