Students’ Diversity and Test Fairness

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

To date we observe increasing diversity among students in social, cultural and individual dimensions. The wide range of proficiency challenges the educational systems and creates a high need for measuring student’s abilities in order to implement effective support measures. Assuring valid and fair assessments of subject-based skills for all students is one of the most pressing and challenging issues confronting educational assessment today. The international composition of the symposium allows comparison between an American and European perspective. With regard to students’ diversity this symposium investigates potential sources of unfairness in existent tests and in the inferences which are based on them. Moreover alternatives to standardized admissions tests and innovative accommodations in test development and use are presented and discussed.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Test Validity Research and Evaluation

Chair

• Nele McElvany, TU Dortmund University

Papers

• Linguistic Complexity of the Assessments - Jamal Abedi, University of California - Davis

• Impact of Language on Validity and Fairness of Educational Test Scores: The Case of the United States and the Basque Country in Spain - Maria Martiniello, Tomas Rivera Policy Institute; Paula Elosua, University of the Basque Country

• Fairness of Language Tests for Students From Various Linguistic Backgrounds - Franziska Schwabe, Technical University of Dortmund; Miriam Marleen Gebauer, Technical University of Dortmund; Wahiba El-Khechen, Technical University of Dortmund; Ali Ünlü, Technical University of Dortmund; Nele McElvany, TU Dortmund University

• Disentangling the Role of High School Grades, SAT Scores, and Socioeconomic Status in Predicting College Achievement - Rebecca Zwick, Educational Testing Service

Discussant

• John W. Young, ETS