The character test for IDAT was developed with the consultation of Dr Krista Edgley (PhD), who is a child psychologist in private practice and who works with the Ottawa District Catholic School Board in Canada. Dr Edgley assisted the IDAT team to narrow down the areas of character that would be relevant to international or global students to：
- Self-Awareness
- Risk-Taking, Adaptation, Resiliency
- Creativity & Problem Solving
- Communication & Empathy
While Dr Edgley has recognised the limitations of asking multiple-choice questions and interference of language and culture to honesty and transparency in answers, she has made every effort to make questions that were inclusive, open and non-judgemental.
The interview component has also been significantly influenced by the advice and research of Dr Edgley, to include open-ended questions which allow students to express individuality, motivation and thoughts towards others and the world. While these are not part of the ‘character’ test, with schools being able to watch the interview, this information can still be used to garner a picture of the whole-student.
Dr Edgley has completed her work with the IDAT test but sees potential in the future for research and analysis of the results to help guide future improvement and innovation in testing. Future child psychologists who work on the test will continue to help IDAT to improve the character test to better see into what makes students who they are.