Assumptions in Alternate Assessment: An Argument-Based Approach to Validation

State-level testing programs continue to grow, and the challenge of validation does not wane. Although more than a decade has passed since the 1999 Joint Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing set out a call for the organization of validity evidence into validity arguments, practical examples of such arguments are not readily available for the research community. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a validity argument for a large-scale alternate assessment, using one state program as a model. Specifically, the authors review the documented purposes of the assessment program and the assumptions related to teaching and learning subsumed within those purpose statements. Potential sources of evidence to support or refute those assumptions are also presented.