Commission independent government investigations of whether high-impact tests predict what they are supposed to¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Testimony at the hearing recommends that Congress direct the Department of Education to audit the predictive validity of standardized tests that have major impacts on students. Rosser states: "I would like the Congress to request that the Department of Education investigate tests that are having major impacts on students, to see if they predict what they are supposed to." She further insists the contracted researchers be independent of the test publishers, since only publishers currently know which questions females and minorities answer incorrectly and have not made that information easily available.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers receiving the investigation contracts must not be connected with the test publishers, per the testimony

Constraints¶

• The testimony notes researchers cannot easily tell which questions are biased by examining the tests; item-level demographic data rests with publishers

Target Learners¶

• college-bound students
• high school students
• women and minority test-takers

Target Learning Goals¶

• fair and valid assessment of ability for admissions, placement, and scholarship decisions

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Sex and Race Differences on Standardized Tests: Oversight Hearings before the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, First Session. (1989). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED312276