Wednesday, March 04, 2015, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM (PST)

The Evolution of Standardized Testing –Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Practice Area Division(s): Industrial/Organizational, Education
Topic: Legislation, Policy, and Accessibility

Given the heightened focus on standardized testing in today’s media, it is not surprising that misperceptions exist about what these tests are designed to do (or not). One of the major misconceptions is that standardized tests are not “fair” and are “biased” against specific groups. No one can argue • When is it appropriate to rework a question or just retire it? Is it worth put ting in the extra effort to “fix” an item that is good conceptually, but flawed structurally? that tests demonstrate variable performance by specific geographic, gender, racial, and/ or ethnic groups. However, well-constructed tests do not create differences; they only measure differences. From a testing/psychometric standpoint, these performance differences do not make a test “unfair” or “biased.” The discussion today related to standardized testing is being framed incorrectly, due to a lack of understanding behind the history of standardized testing. This presentation will focus on presenting a thorough chronological historical look at standardized testing origins and its current state today.

PRESENTERS:
Keith Wright, SSATB
Jonathan Martin, Consultant