Assessment validity means your test, quiz, or assignment actually measures what you think it’s measuring. In other words, does your assessment truly test the skills, knowledge, or learning objectives you intended?
Think of it this way: If you want to test whether students can solve math word problems, but your test is mostly reading comprehension because the word problems are too complex to read, then your assessment lacks validity—you’re accidentally testing reading instead of math problem-solving.
Key Types of Validity:
Content Validity: Does your assessment cover the important material you taught?
- Good example: Your unit test on fractions includes adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions (what you taught)
- Poor example: Your fractions test is mostly about decimals
Face Validity: Does the assessment look like it measures what it should?
- Good example: A writing assessment asks students to write an essay
- Poor example: A writing assessment is multiple choice questions about grammar
Construct Validity: Does it measure the deeper skill or concept you care about?
- Good example: Testing critical thinking by having students analyze and compare different solutions to a problem
- Poor example: Testing critical thinking by asking students to memorize definitions of logical fallacies
Red Flags Your Assessment Might Lack Validity:
- Students who understand the material are failing because of confusing wording
- High achievers are struggling due to unclear directions
- The test feels disconnected from what you actually taught
- Students need skills you didn’t teach to succeed (like advanced vocabulary for a science test)
Quick Validity Check: Ask yourself, “If a student does well on this assessment, can I confidently say they’ve mastered what I intended to teach?”