Global Perspectives on Educational Testing: Examining Fairness, High-Stakes and Policy Reform(13 Advances in Education in Diverse Communities: Research, Policy and Praxis)

This book provides a refined definition of standardized educational test fairness that can be utilized in multiple contexts to better understand the experiences and perspectives of diverse groups of test takers. Globally, there has been a significant influx in the use of and dependence on standardized tests to foster educational improvements. Standardized testing programs such as TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), are designed to provide information about a country’s global standing in multiple academic areas, ranking individuals and/or groups relative to the performance of others. The high-stakes nature of standardized tests has increased public concern and interest in issues related to test fairness. Since standardized test performance has a profound influence on multiple aspects of educational systems, it is imperative to better understand and examine issues of fairness.

Table of Contents:
1, International Assessments and Fairness Issues 2, The Arbuthnot Assessment Fairness Framework  3, TAAF Framework Phase I: Country Selection  4, TAAF Framework Phase II: Test and Subtest Performance  5, TAAF Framework Phase III: Item-level Performance  6, TAAF Framework Phase IV: Cultural Impact  7, Rethinking Fairness and International Assessments

About the Author :
Keena Arbuthnot is Associate Professor of Education at Louisiana State University, USA. She is author of Filling in the Blanks: Understanding Standardized Testing and the Black-White Achievement Gap and has served as a consultant in the United States and internationally.

Review :
This volume considers fairness in high-stakes international assessments that gauge differences in educational strengths and ranking of countries around the world and improve teaching and learning. It explains the current state of international assessments and how countries have used results from assessment initiatives to inform educational policy and practice at the national level; various international assessment programs, focusing on the mathematics part of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessment and addressing the creation of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing; the author’s model, The Arbuthnot Assessment Fairness Framework, to examine test and item-level performance patterns and fairness issues; how to use it and its four phases to inform stakeholder groups about test fairness issues and differences in performance patterns, using the examples of Chinese Taipei, Finland, the US, and Qatar in terms of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessment, with details on their cultural impact, performance patterns, and educational reform policies; and how to analyze data and use multiple data sources to examine issues of fairness on international assessments.