Aligning Fairness Assessment With Ensuring Fair Contests for Motivated Test Takers

Fairness has been a significant consideration in the field of educational testing and assessment in the United States since the 1960s. The authors describe different views about what may be fair (or unfair) with regard to testing, before narrowing their focus to the contestant perspective on fairness. They then describe, from a variety of perspectives, current practices that influence test fairness. Due to changes in society, education, and the field of educational measurement, factors traditionally considered in addressing fairness may no longer be relevant, may need to be adjusted in application, or may be insufficient as a set. The authors focus on one factor in particular, the use of race/ethnicity to define subgroups in fairness analyses. They mention several approaches to admissions decisions that might potentially provide more illumination than the approaches currently being used and that may lead to an increased understanding of fairness in testing.

Keywords: perspectives on fairness; fairness practices; test takers as contestants; streetlight effect; educational disadvantage