Test Development and Adaptation in a Global, Educational Context

Increasingly, tests are being used in countries different from where they were developed. Perhaps this change has taken place because the measures are perceived as highly successful in one country or perhaps because the psychological theories and history of test development in a country are more established or developed than they were previously. It is also for fiscal reasons; adapting an existing measure may be less expensive than developing a new one, and one may use the established name. Psychometric and test development procedures are needed to assure that the measures are revised meaningfully for the new culture. There are evolving procedures for adapting tests from one language to another. To describe this endeavor, adaptation is used rather than translation because both language differences and cultural differences must be considered. Many of the most commonly used measures around the world have been adapted from measures written in a small number of almost exclusively Western countries. One must also know how the adapted construct functions in the target culture. This chapter provides access to best practices in test adaptation (based primarily on guidelines from the International Test Commission) and provides examples of such adaptations. Best practices often involve teams rather than simply an individual making these determinations. Subsequent to the adaptation, analyses of reliability, validity, and fairness are essential in the new culture to assure continued successful use of the adapted measure.