Standardized testing was reinvented by the pioneering work of Binet and Spearman in Europe at the beginning of the 20^th century. It was further developed and became massively applied in the middle of the 20^th century in North America, whereupon it was re-imported in Europe. In spite of this interaction, the current traditions of testing on the two continents show some notable differences. In this presentation, we focus primarily on the traditions of educational testing, and try to relate them to developments in their educational systems.

Presenter Bio:

Wim J. van der Linden holds degrees in Psychology and Mathematical Sociology from the Universities of Utrecht and in Psychometric Theory from the University of Amsterdam. Currently, he is the Chief Research Scientist at CTB/McGraw Hill. His research interests include test theory, computerized adaptive testing, large-scale educational assessments, optimal test assembly, and decision theory and its application to problems of educational decision-making. His publications have appeared in all major international testing and psychometrics journals. Professor van der Linden has served on the editorial boards of Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, Testing Research, Applied Psychological Measurement, Journal of Educational Measurement, Psychometrika, European Review of Applied Psychology, Dutch Journal of Education, Dutch Journal of Educational Research, and International Journal of Testing, on numerous boards and committees of national and international professional organizations, and is a Past President and current member of the Board of Trustees of the Psychometric Society. He is also an advisory member, Board, Japanese Institute of Educational Measurement, Tokyo, Japan. From 2001-2003 he served as member of the Research Review Board of the National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 2001 to the present he serves as a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Jersey City, New Jersey. From 1999-2004 he served as member of the Advisory Board for the Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research, Hong Kong. From 2004 to the present he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of CITO, Arnheim, Netherlands.

Professor Wim J. van der Linden has contributed significantly throughout his career to the science and applied practice of educational and licensure testing and psychometrics. He has provided unique and seminal contributions to the ATP annual conference on Technology Based Testing as an invited speaker.