Do Standards Promote Fairness and Legitimacy in the Changing Marketplace for Testing?

Abstract

Tests are increasingly seen as transactional commodities rather than tools to promote the common good. This creates new types of fairness considerations as well as broad threats to the perceived legitimacy of tests and test use. This chapter uses examples from school graduation and accountability testing, teacher evaluation through value-added models, teacher licensure testing, and higher education admissions testing to highlight perspectives on test fairness from courts, public policy makers, consumers, and businesses. The examples illustrate the need for the measurement community to pay greater attention to the contexts and uses of testing. The measurement community must revise its approach to fairness and make an enhanced commitment to better articulation and enforcement of professional standards to promote fairness.

Keywords: legal issues; accountability testing; teacher evaluation; value-added models; teacher licensing tests; college admissions tests