RETHINKING MEASUREMENT IN EDUCATION: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF PROPERTIES IN EDUCATIONAL SCALES

Abstract

Educational measurement is essential to teaching, learning, assessment, curriculumevaluation, and educational decision-making. As educational systems increasingly rely onquantitative evidence to guide policy and practice, concerns have emerged regarding the qualityand psychometric adequacy of educational scales used to measure latent constructs such asachievement, depression, locus of control, motivation, self-efficacy, engagement, attitude, andlearning outcomes. Traditional approaches to measurement often emphasize score generation whileoverlooking critical scale properties that determine the trustworthiness and interpretability ofresults. This position paper advocates a rethinking of educational measurement with a strongeremphasis on validity, reliability, factor structure, measurement invariance, fairness, andtechnological responsiveness. The paper argues that educational scales should be evaluated notmerely by their ability to produce scores but by the extent to which those scores accurately,consistently, and equitably represent the intended constructs. Implications for educational research,assessment practices, and curriculum evaluation are discussed.