Assessing achievement for minimal academic competency. II. Validity and reliability.

Research was undertaken to develop, administer, and evaluate two forms of a criterion-referenced test instrument for measuring the competency status of students graduating from undergraduate programs in general dietetics. Involved in the evaluation of the final forms were 186 students graduating from fourteen college or university programs. Results are reported on the content validity, concurrent validity, reliability, and summary and individual test-item statistics. It is concluded that the test forms need further refinement and development and that the use of criterion-referenced evaluation tools to measure academic competency of students graduating in dietetics is needed.