Equity and Excellence in Educational Testing and Assessment

5 TABLE I Average Reading Proficiency and Achievement Levels by RacelEthnicity Grades 4 8 and 12 1992 Reading Assessment Percentage of Student At or Above Percentage of Average Proficient Basic Below Basic Advanced I Students Proficiency I Grade 4 White 71 226 6 31 68 J2 69 16 193 0 Black 7 31 Hispanic 9 202 2 13 41 59 Asian/Pacific Islander 2 216 2 21 55 45 American Indian 2 208 2 15 50 50 Grade 8 70 White 268 3 34 77 23 Black 16 238 0 8 44 56 Hispanic 10 242 I 13 49 51 AsianlPacific Islander 3 270 6 38 77 23 American Indian 1 251 I 18 60 40 Grade 12 White 72 297 4 43 82 18 Black 15 272 0 16 54 46 9 277 Hispanic 1 21 61 39 Asian/Pacific Islander 4 291 4 39 74 26 American Indian 0 272 I 24 S2 48 Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1992 Reading Assessment. Reprinted from "NAEP 1992 Reading Report Card for the Nation and the States. " l be reading at the advanced level . A much higher percent of White Americans are performing at the proficient and advanced levels.

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The reader of this book will gain a greater understanding of contemporary equity issues in educational testing and assessment and to learn to examine these issues in the context of educational reform. The book focuses on the following four issues: (1) the growing prominence that educational testing and assessment are playing in American education; (2) the effect that current testing and assessment policies and practices are having upon minority and disadvantaged students and school systems; (3) the new and innovative approaches to testing and assessment and their prospects for promoting educational equity, educational reform and accountability; and (4) the actions that need to be taken in order to achieve equity in testing and assessment in the nation's schools. The goal is to identify and begin addressing some of the disadvantages faced by many Americans in their pursuit of high-quality education and training. The book explores some of the factors that contribute to the gaps in student achievement along racial and social class lines, and offers ideas for improving the measurement of America's diverse population of students. Some of the chapters focus on how the field of educational testing is changing to include new types of assessment practices and policies, and new types of testing and assessment instruments. Innovations in educational testing and assessment include student exhibitions, portfolios, performance tasks, and essay writing, all of which are being advanced both for in-classroom and in-school use as well as for purposes of public accountability. Some of the public policy innovations include the following: awarding federal funding and recognition based upon student performance on tests and assessments; national government approval of the assessments that states, school districts, and schools use; and national approval and sanctioning of the standards that will be measured by educational tests and assessments.

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I Identifying Equity Challenges in the Context of Ducational Testing and Assessment Reform.- 1. Introduction: The Pursuit of Equity in Educational Testing and Assessment.- 2. A Technological and Historical Consideration of Equity Issues Associated with Proposals to Change Our Nation's Testing Policy.- 3. Diversity, Assessment, and Equity in Educational Reform.- 4. Equity Issues in Performance-Based Assessment.- 5. Some Prerequisites for the Establishment of Equitable, Inclusive Multicultural Assessment Systems.- II Reforms in Assessment and Testing: Are New Practices Better and More Equitable?.- 6. Achieving Equity: Counting on the Classroom.- 7. Equity and Validity Considerations in the Design and Implemention of a Mathematics Performance Assessment: The Experience of the QUASAR Project.- 8. Performance-Based Assessments: Contributor or Detractor to Equity?.- 9. Equity and Excellence in Group-Administered and Performance-Based Assessments.- III Impact of Assessment Reforms at Three Levels: The Classroom, the State, and the Nation.- 10. Using New Forms of Assessment to Assist in Achieving Student Equity: Experiences of the CCSSO State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards.- 11. The Effect of Expectations on Achieving Equity in State-Wide Testing: Lessons from Massachusetts.- 12. Toward National Standards and Testing: The Educational Equity Imperative.- 13. Equity Issues in Teacher Assessment.- 14. Visions of Equity in National Assessment.