Classroom Observation Schemes: Where are the Errors?

Abstract

Much of the confusion about the notion of was cleared with the publication of Technical Recommendations for Psychological Tests and Diagnostic Techniques (American Psychological Association, 1954) and Technical Recommendations for Achievement Tests (American Educational Research Association, 1955). The subsequent publication of Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals (American Psychological Association, 1966), while it introduced considerable changes in the conception of validity, redefined in essentially the same terms. The term reliability was clarified through the recognition of its several meanings and, consequently, that 'reliability coefficient' is a generic term referring to various types of evidence; each type of evidence suggesting a different meaning (APA, 1966, p. 25). Although the explicit definition of a series of alternative conceptions of clarified the issue it did not resolve a number of important questions of interpretation. For example, there is no clear guide for the selection of an appropriate coefficient nor is there any resolution of the problem of interpreting differences in the values of the various coefficients for the same test.