Base+group+3


 * __Popham Chapter 4: Absence-of-Bias__**
 * Base Group Notes by: Britt Pacheco**
 * __Assessment Bias:__** Refers to qualities of an assessment instrument that offend or unfairly penalize a group of students because of their gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion or other such group-defining characteristics.
 * Can distort a student’s performance, which interferes with the validity of test-based inferences
 * **Offensiveness** of test items occurs when negative stereotypes of certain subgroup members are presented
 * **Unfair Penalization** arises when a student’s test performance is distorted because of content that disadvantages the student because of a student’s group membership
 * **Disparate Impact** occurs when test scores of different groups (ethnic, religious, etc) are decidedly different. This does not necessarily mean the test is biased. Items are often re-assessed by test publishers to make sure they aren’t biased
 * **Judgmental Scrutinizing** is a useful way to identify any biases in an assessment. Content-knowledgeable reviewers study all items to see if any offend or un-fairly penalize certain subgroups of students.
 * **Differential Item Functioning** procedures identify items on which subgroups perform differently. If an item is differentially functioning, it does not necessarily mean it’s biased.
 * **To Detect Bias in the Classroom:** become sensitive to the existence of assessment bias and the need to eliminate it.
 * **Evaluative criteria in evaluating assessments:** namely, reliability, Absence-of-bias.
 * Assessment biases are prevalent in students with disabilities and English Language Learners


 * Children With Disabilities and Federal Law**
 * 13 categories of disability

---> __Presentation Accommodations:__ do not require students to visually read standard print ---> __Response Accommodation:__ use of a device or organizer for assignments ---> __Setting Accommodations:__ change location test is given in ---> __Timing Accommodations:__ increase of allowable time.
 * Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142)**
 * Enacted in 1975 because there was a growing recognition of the need to properly educate children with disabilities and a series of judicial rulings requiring states to provide a suitable education to students with disabilities if those states were providing one for students without disabilities.
 * **Individualized Education Program (IEP):** Federally prescribed document developed by parents, teachers and specialists describing how a specific child with disabilities should be educated. Includes annual goals & substitutions in assessments.
 * **Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA):** reauthorization of PL 94-142. Required all states to include students with disabilities in their assessment programs, many educators failed to comply.
 * **No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB):** In 2002 Bush re-enacted the IDEA and set consequences for teachers who did not comply. Requires adequate yearly progress for all students.
 * **Assessment Accommodations**: procedures or practices that permits students with disabilities to have equitable access to instruction and assessment
 * **English Language Learners (ELL): 3 groups: (1)** students whose first language is not English and know a little, if any English **(2)** students who are beginning to learn English but could benefit from school instruction, and **(3)** students who are proficient in English but need additional assistance in academic or social contexts
 * **Limited English Proficient (LEP):** The term the federal government often uses to describe ELL students.

> --->Previous version used **compensatory model**: weak performance in one subject is compensated for by high score in another subject >NCLB now uses **conjunctive model:** scores in all areas must be acceptable
 * Concerns of NCLB**
 * Inconsistency in LEP classification across and within states
 * Sparse LEP populations
 * Subgroup instability (A student’s LEP status is not stable over time)
 * Technical Quality of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) -determining assessment tools
 * Lower baseline scores (Improvement targets may be unrealistic)
 * LEP cut-scores


 * Testing Hispanic Students in the US: Technical and Policy Issues**
 * Translated tests should not be used
 * Test that claim to be equivalent in English & Spanish must have proper empirical evidence
 * The use of interpreters should be discouraged