Validating interpretive arguments for licensure and certification examinations

To validate the interpretation assigned to test scores is to support the rationale for this interpretation. The interpretations for licensure and certification tests involve a sequence of inferences, or an argument, leading from the test score to decisions about licensure or certification. This article examines several possible interpretive arguments for licensure and certification test scores and analyzes the evidence required to support each type of argument. Particular attention is given to a competency-based argument that involves a sequence of several inferences leading from test scores to statements about competence, and then to conclusions about expected performance in practice. Decisions about licensure or certification are based on expected performance in practice.