The twelfth chapter of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014) discusses the standards related to educational testing and assessment. The main purposes of this chapter are to make informed decisions for students, as well as to make inferences that inform teachers and staff about individual students and groups.
The first cluster of standards refers to the development and design of educational assessments (American Educational Research Association, 2014). Whenever an educational test is mandated, there are responsibilities for those who do so. Furthermore, it is the duty of those who mandate the test to clearly define how the test results should be used. Additionally, when it is foreseeable that a mandated test can cause …show more content…
Also, when problems do arise because of a mandated test, it is the duty of those who mandated the test to investigate the cause of the problem and possible solutions to correct it. As with any test used professionally or to dictate or influence decisions, adequate validity, reliability/precision, and fairness must be established. Also, such evidence of validity, reliability/precision, and fairness needs to be accessible to the public. It is imperative that tests are designed in such a way as to allow all individuals, which whom the test is intended for, to demonstrate their performance in the area of specified constructs. Furthermore, educational tests should not be easier or more difficult for an individual because of their characteristics or identification with a subgroup. Tests that are used to assess the level of achievement or knowledge of a test taker, relative to an established series of levels or standards outside of the test, there must be evidence that shows that the test is a strong predictor of a level or standard. Additionally, the test must adequately define the target domains. The development of local and broad norms is important to validate intended …show more content…
It is important to protect the test questions from being accessible in test preparation material to maintain the strength of the validity of tests. Because some educational tests can be used to determine whether or not a student graduates or advances to the next grade level, it is imperative that there is evidence that the content on the test was taught to the student. In other words, if a student has not been taught the content that that student will be tested on to determine if he or she graduates, then that test should not be used to determine any outcomes related to that student. When students must be assessed in order to advance grade levels or to graduate, the students must have the option to take several different types of tests to demonstrate adequate knowledge. Additionally, it is important that there is sufficient time between the administration of each type of test so that students have adequate time to learn material that they will be tested on. In the event that an important or long lasting decision needs to be made that will effect a student, that decision needs to be based on more than that student’s performance on one test. Furthermore, it is best to take a holistic approach that factors in several different tools or means of making judgements when a major decision is to be made in relation to a student. As with