THE THREE STAGE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NTE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST SPECIALTY AREA TEST FROM A JOB ANALYSIS PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe utilization of survey data and expert judgment in test development is described in the three stages of developing the NTE School Psychologist Specialty Area Test. The first stage is described in the paper entitled “Knowledge Areas Important to School Psychology.” A survey of the membership of the National Association of School Psychologists helped determine knowledge areas and job activities important to the professional functions of an entry‐level school psychologist. Expert committee judgments were then used to link these knowledge areas to job domains. The second stage, described in the paper entitled “Specifying the Content Domain of the NTE School Psychologist Specialty Area Test” reviews how the findings of the first stage were used by the Committee of Examiners to establish content specifications and the representation of component knowledge areas for the test. The findings were also used to establish a job context for each test question. Finally, the “Follow Up: Specifying the Content and Context of NTE School Psychologist Items for Item Writers” documents how the directions of the Committee of Examiners were transmitted to item writers. The three papers, taken together, provide a step by step process of item development based on expert judgment.