A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING COGNITIVELY DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENTS

Over the past decade or so, a growing number of writers have argued th at cognitive science and psychometrics could be combined in the servic e of instruction. Researchers have progressed beyond statements of int ent to the hands-on business of researching and developing diagnostic assessments combining cognitive science and psychometrics, what I call cognitively diagnostic assessment (CDA). In this article, I attempt t o organize the many loosely connected efforts to develop cognitively d iagnostic assessments. I consider the development of assessments to gu ide specific instructional decisions, sometimes referred to as diagnos tic assessments. Many of my arguments apply to program evaluation as w ell-assessments that reveal the mechanisms test takers use in respondi ng to items or tasks provide important information on whether instruct ion is achieving its goals. My goal in this article is to characterize CDA in terms of the intended use of assessment and the methods of dev eloping and evaluating assessments. Towards this goal, I (a) outline t he societal trends that motivate the development of CDA, (b) introduce a framework within which the psychological and statistical aspects of CDA can be coordinated, and (c) summarize efforts to develop CDA in a five-step methodology that can guide future development efforts. Fina lly, I address some of the issues developers of CDA must resolve if CD A is to succeed.