Commentary: What Is Truly Foundational?

The Task Force on Foundational Competencies in Educational Measurement has produced a set of foundational competencies and invited comment on the document. The students and faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst provide their comments and critique of the proposed competencies. Both students and faculty agree that there needs to be more specificity regarding the purpose of the document, the nature of the data used to produce the document, and the definition of the relevant terms. Additionally, attention should be paid to the international context, and the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The authors acknowledge the contribution of the draft of the foundational competencies and look forward to more conversation regarding this topic.