The Role of UNDERSTANDardization in International Assessment

• In Event: Quality Educational Assessment for Equity and Fairness

Abstract

Standardization of educational measures is done so that all students are tested on the same material, under the same testing conditions, and with the same scoring protocols. This uniformity is designed to provide a level “playing field” for all students so that the test is “the same” for everyone. Thus, standardization is designed to promote fairness in testing. However, the idea that we can have the same measurement conditions and present “the same” content for all students around the globe is wishful thinking. The concept of UNDERSTANDardization requires testing agencies to understand the full diversity within the populations of students tested and to build standardized conditions with sufficient flexibility to accommodate the needs of all students.
Objectives and Perspectives
The objective of UNDERSTANDardization is to establish flexible standardized testing conditions that are appropriate for the diversity within the student population tested. The key prefix in this concept is not “under” as in the standardization should be less than traditional procedures, but rather “understand.” Thus, understandardization makes test development, delivery, scoring, and score reporting better by providing the best measurement for each student, rather than the average student. Thus, its application to international assessment is important, given the heterogeneity of students in different countries, cultures, and economic settings.
Method
The understandardization process involves three steps: (a) conducting research to understand the full diversity of students in the population, (b) identifying ways in which anticipated testing conditions may negatively interact with the diversity of the student population, and (c) adjusting the standardization process to be sufficiently flexible so that any negative interactions with student characteristics are mitigated.
Significance
The process of standardizing educational tests grew out of the experimental psychology procedures from the late 19th century. At that time, a key focus was to illustrate that measurement of psychological constructs was possible, and could be quantified on a numerical scale. Now that the utility of educational tests has been established, it is time to put the focus on the students who are tested, and how assessment results can be used to help them achieve success. Given the variety of student needs across the globe, valid testing in this 21st century requires that we move away from traditionally rigid test administration conditions and allow for flexibility in test administration to accommodate the diverse experiences, talents and needs of our students. The concept of understardization extends the concept of universal design beyond linguistic minorities and students with disabilities to all students. Examples of how understandardization can be applied to the assessment contexts described in the other papers will be provided.

Author

• Stephen G. Sireci, University of Massachusetts - Amherst