On one hand, the Standards appear to have shifted to speak not just to the assessment pedant, but to a broader range of consumers of assessment scores including graduate students and policymakers. Such an endeavor seems judicious given the updates to the Standards since the previous explication in Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development ( MECD) by Goodwin and Leech ( Citation2003), as well as our current zeitgeist of assessment access, use, and interpretation in which we find ourselves as counseling professionals. Therefore, the aim of this special issue is to provide such support that is a useful guide to counseling practitioners, researchers, and students.

Alas, educational experiences and continuing education activities for many counseling professionals have been underrepresented by plainly spoken illustrations of assessment development and evaluation activities. The confluence of these variables within the current sociopolitical climate has triggered a moment within our profession's history wherein a functional understanding of measurement concepts is imperative. Similarly, evidence-supported treatments and evidence-based practices that are nested within sensible, pragmatic, assessment-based data frameworks are instrumental for informing best practices for educational and public mental health policy. Such a resource is invaluable when considering that prudently selected, administered, scored, and interpreted assessments can shape the course and trajectory of an individual's development and wellness across the life span. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ( Standards American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, Citation2014) provided guidelines for the development and evaluation of assessment validity that have substantial implications for professional counselors in clinical and research settings alike. Validity, reliability, and fairness in assessment practices might be the most integral, yet misinterpreted concepts within the fields of educational and psychological assessment.

Validity and reliability in assessment