Dr. Gary Skaggs is a Professor in the Educational Research and Evaluation Program at Virginia Tech. He teaches courses in test development and test theory as well as introductory and intermediate statistics. He is the author or co-author of 81 publications, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, papers in conference proceedings, book chapters, invited lectures, and professional conference papers/presentations. His research interests include test equating, differential item functioning, standard setting, and cognitive diagnostic models. Dr. Skaggs has served as a test and psychometric consultant to numerous professional organizations including the GED Testing Service, Maryland State Board of Education, National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, Carilion Clinic Department of Psychiatry, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Test Development and Validation by Gary Skaggs summarizes the latest test theories, frameworks for test development and validation, and guidance for developing tests in straightforward language in one core text. Students looking for clear, concise explanations of measurement, validity, and test development within a real-world context and with numerous examples will find this book to be an excellent learning resource. Author Gary Skaggs takes years of experience teaching test development to graduate students across social and behavioral sciences and consulting on a wide variety of government and institutional research projects to offer students a thorough, jargon-free, and highly applied book to help propel their own research and careers. Part I of the book, The Big Picture, sets the stage for test development, placing it within the larger context and history of measurement, emphasizing measurement concepts and their evolution over time. Part II, Test Development, covers the technical details of instrument and test development in logical order. Validation, Part III, links the conceptual bases provided in Part I with the technical process provided in Part II to conclude the book. For those students wanting to go further, software suggestions are referenced in the technical chapters, while Further Reading sections offer the original sources for more details. Exercises and Activities at the end of each chapter provide students a variety of ways to apply their knowledge, from conceptual questions to brief project ideas to data analysis problems.
