There are many reasons a high-stakes Assessment would need to be translated and adapted, some of which we’ve already discussed here on the blog. This might mean translating and adapting an entire assessment into another language for the benefit of another cultural audience. Or adapting specific test content into another language to create a whole new assessment for the benefit of another cultural audience. In either case, it’s extremely important that the resulting assessment is psychometrically valid as well as culturally appropriate and relevant to target audiences. It’s the only way to successfully ensure fairness and meaningful results.

Today I’d like to share with you three of the keys to achieving successful Translation and adaptation of a high-stakes assessment. This is based on my experience in the translation and adaptation of high-stakes assessments in areas such as education and health.

A Solid Foundation

All important work should be rooted in a solid foundation. For the translation and adaptation of high-stakes assessments, I recommend the International Test Commission’s “ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests” (Second Edition). These guidelines provide a best practice framework for translating and adapting tests and assessments that are destined for different linguistic and cultural audiences. They cover six phases: Pre-Condition, Test Development, Confirmation, Administration, Score Scales and Interpretation, and Documentation. The publication also includes a checklist and a glossary of terms. Additional best practices, both theoretical and hard-won through experience, round out preparation for this type of work.

Linguistic Expertise

The successful translation and adaptation of a high-stakes assessment requires a team of qualified, experienced professionals equipped to fulfill the project’s specifications to an exacting standard. This may include subject matter experts, translators, translation editors, project managers and psychometrically trained linguists in various configurations, depending on the particular assessment.

Team members working on the translation and adaptation of high-stakes assessments should be chosen for their expertise and specialization in testing and/or in the assessment’s subject, as well as for their qualifications and experience in the particular role they will play in the project.

As an example, when Responsive Translation adapted an English language arts assessment into Spanish in the creation of a new Spanish-language reading screener for NWEA, we were particularly interested in recruiting Texas school teachers who understood the whole context, the skills their kids were bringing to the assessment table and the challenges they faced in a local Spanish-speaking environment in the State of Texas.

An Equivalent, Defensible Process

No two assessment translation and adaptation projects are alike, which should be reflected and documented in the workflow. The right process, along with the rigor with which each step in the workflow is carried out, ensures that the final translation and adaptation is fair to test takers, meets the highest standard and produces the desired result for stakeholders.

The workflow should be tailored to considerations such as legal requirements, stakeholder characteristics and concerns, timeframe and budget, and incorporate the use of linguistic resources such as terminology glossaries and style guides.

Here is an example of a workflow we created for the adaptation of a high-stakes assessment into Spanish.

Preparation:

Glossary Construction
Text Extraction (Text)
Text Extraction (Images)
Globalization Triage
Translation Memory Update

Translation/Adaptation:

Translation/Adaptation (Text, Alts, Equations and Images)
Linguistic Editing
Content Editing
Proofreading

Validation and Harmonization:

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Validation
Client Validation
Final Harmonization
Image Process 1
Image Process 2

Traffic Management:

Item Creation
Quality Check
Project Management

There is too much riding on a high-stakes assessment to make mistakes. I strongly believe that a solid foundation, linguistic expertise and a fair, defensible process are three central elements in the successful translation and adaptation of any high-stakes assessment.

Experts in Adapting High-Stakes Assessments

Certified for ISO 9001, Responsive Translation has extensive experience in the translation, adaptation, validation and review of high-stakes assessments for multiple industries.

For more information about our complete range of foreign-language services, please get in touch at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].