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empirically grounded but ideally represented space. Thus, focusing on individual
differences does not entail neglecting invariance. The general Skill Scale repre-
sents an important confluence of research concerning certain invariant processes
underlying the diversity and variability of real human learning in context.
In the wake of this confluence of research, Dawson (2008) confirmed the exis-
tence of a developmental dimension underlying a wide variety of learning sequences
by applying a set of psychometric techniques. This resulted in a refinement of
the basic principles of Skill Analysis—along with other comparable developmental
assessment systems—and the construction of the most psychometrically validated
and reliable developmental assessment system to date, the LAS. The LAS has been
used to systemize the construction of learning sequences out of both longitudinal
and cross-sectional data sets (Dawson-Tunik, 2004). This process for building learn-
ing sequences involves a three-step iterative method (described in detail elsewhere:
Dawson-Tunik, 2004; Dawson & Stein, 2008).
Dynamic Skill Theory
and the
Lectical Assessment System
represent fundamen-
tal advances both our understanding of learning and our methods for studying and
measuring it. Importantly, the ability to build learning sequences about specific top-
ics using a psychometrically sophisticated instrument allows for a radically new
approach to test design. The DiscoTest Initiative seeks to build a new testing infras-
tructure around the basic advances provided by this broad approach to understanding
and researching learning. Before getting into the details of how DiscoTests are built
and used, we will briefly explain the guiding insights and goals.
As explained above, tests should be built around actual research into how stu-
dents learn (NRC, 2001). The systematic construction of focused learning sequences
provides valuable insight into student learning processes by allowing for a general
characterization of the range of possible conceptions—the steps along the way from
less sophisticated to more sophisticated understandings. This allows for tests that
can place any given student performance in relation to the range of possible per-
formances, and thus gives insight into what the student currently understands and
what the student is likely to benefit from learning next. These tests can be integrated
with curricula that are also informed by empirically grounded learning sequences,
which also can provide the basis for richly educative feedback. Moreover, because
the learning sequences are built around a psychometrically refined general metric,
a test that is scored on that metric also serves as a standardized measure of student
performance. Thus, the goal of the DiscoTest initiative is to build standardized tests
that can be customized to different curricula and built around empirical research
into how students learn, providing both educative feedback and psychometrically
reliable scores.
DiscoTest: Building the Computer-Based Educational Testing
Infrastructure of Tomorrow
The DiscoTest Initiative is a nonprofit, research-oriented effort to develop free,
valid, reliable, standardized, and educative assessments of key skills and concepts.
