Improving Test Validity and Accessibility with Digital-First Assessments

Abstract

Digital-first high stakes assessments invite us to rethink the standards, user experience, and vocabulary of assessment validity. We explore the disruptive potential of digital-first high stakes assessments to set higher standards in test performance and validity. In this paper we describe the new lexicon that digital-first assessments have introduced into high stakes digital assessments such as personalisation, user experience, and accessibility. The features of digital high stakes assessments have the potential to reduce sources of construct-irrelevant variation and improve test validity. In conclusion we argue that the distinctive features of digital high stakes assessment challenge our understanding of good assessment design setting new standards for assessment performance and validity.