Inspired by the recent 21st century social and educational movements toward equity, diversity, and inclusion for disadvantaged groups, educational researchers have sought in conceptualizing fairness in classroom assessment contexts. These efforts have provoked promising key theoretical foundations and empirical investigations to examine fairness…

Suggestions are provided for future research in item bias detection, reduction of essay-reader variation in setting cut-score levels, and limitations of equating theory. (TJH)

Federal law requires that individuals with handicapping conditions be administered assessments in ways that accommodate their disabilities without penalizing them. Validation studies are needed to evaluate the meaning of scores resulting from nonstandard test administrations. The limited number of these studies to date is reviewed. (SLD)

The validity of several criticisms of objective tests is addressed, and the viability of some alternatives to objective testing is discussed. Evidence against multiple-choice tests is not as strong as has been claimed. Authentic assessments may not always be better, and research about new forms of assessment is necessary. (SLD)

The old era of educational assessment and reasons for its demise are described. The new era will be different and will present four challenges to the assessment community: (1) new assessment targets; (2) technical challenges of alternative assessments; (3) demystifying assessment and evaluation; and (4) reexamining assessment priorities. (SLD)