TEST THEORY RECONCEIVED

Educational test theory consists of statistical and methodological too ls to support inference about examinees' knowledge, skills, and accomp lishments. Its evolution has been shaped by the nature of users' infer ences, which have been framed almost exclusively in terms of trait and behavioral psychology, and focused on students' tendency to act in pr especified ways in prespecified domains of tasks. Progress in the meth odology of test theory enabled users to extend the range of inference and ground interpretations more solidly within these psychological par adigms. Developments in cognitive and developmental psychology have br oadened the range of inferences we wish to make about students' learni ng to encompass conjectures about the nature and acquisition of their knowledge. The same underlying principles of inference that led to sta ndard test theory can support inference in this broader universe of di scourse. Familiar models and methods-sometimes extended, sometimes rei nterpreted sometimes applied to problems wholly different from those f or which they were first devised-can play a useful role to this end.