Practice testing is a powerful tool to consolidate long-term retention of studied information, facilitate subsequent learning of new information, and foster knowledge transfer. However, practitioners frequently express the concern that tests are anxiety-inducing and that their employment in the classroom should be minimized. The current review…

The principle of fairness in testing traditionally involves an assertion about the absence of bias, or that measurement should be impartial (i.e., not provide an unfair advantage or disadvantage), across groups of test takers. In more general-purposes language testing, a test taker's background knowledge is not typically considered relevant to the…

In this study, we propose that the unique needs and characteristics of linguistic minorities should be considered throughout the test development process. Unlike most measurement invariance investigations in the assessment of linguistic minorities, which typically are conducted after test administration, we propose strategies that focus on the…

Language testing means taking decisions: about the test taker's results, but also about the test construct and the measures taken in order to ensure quality. This article takes the German test "telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule" as an example to illustrate this decision-making process in an academic context. The test is used for university…

The realities of inappropriate and sometimes unethical testing practices must be confronted to make sure that current assessments are as reliable and effective as possible. While this paper does not attempt to provide practical guidelines for ethical and appropriate testing, it does draw a picture of appropriate and ethical testing practices. All…

The objectives of this study were to ascertain the existence of any widely held, systematic sets in response position selection (RPS) and to evaluate the potential biasing effects of such sets on multiple choice and true-false test results. It is concluded that a sudden change in the accustomed pattern of keyed response positions can shift…

The article presents a review of test abuse and misuse with the Chicano. It reviews several measures undertaken to rectify abuses and misuses of tests but that have frequently been the source of new problems while not really ameliorating the basic condition, e.g., test translations, adding points, renorming test scores, and importing tests. (NQ)

This study examined the effects of selected reader and task variables on reading comprehension performance. Several reader and task interaction effects were found to be significant, particularly for lookback conditions and constructed response tasks. Cognitive style interacted with hearing state on tasks involving lookback options. (Author/DWH)

The study reviewed the formats and psychometric rationale of several alleged culture-fair tests. Advantages and disadvantages of each instrument were examined and implications for compensatory education were discussed. (Author)

The alternative suggested is comprised of three elements: 1) Working toward changes in attitudes of people and institutions to directly attack discriminatory applications of tests; 2) Emphasizing test validation and development by new test instruments oriented to the needs of disadvantaged applicants; and, 3) Eliminating discriminatory selection…