This article proposes that sampling design effects have potentially huge unrecognized impacts on the results reported by large-scale district and state assessments in the United States. When design effects are unrecognized and unaccounted for they lead to underestimating the sampling error in item and test statistics. Underestimating the sampling…

Examined the effects of race of examiner and level of mistrust of Whites on the Stanford-Binet performance of 105 Black elementary school children. The Black examiner-high mistrust group scored significantly higher than the White examiner-high mistrust group, and significantly higher than the Black examiner-low mistrust group. (WAS)

Reports the results of a study in which two groups of university students completed the Attitude toward Disabled Persons scale. Results indicate that scores were affected significantly between the groups when participants were exposed to disabled as opposed to able-bodied experimenters. (Author)

Examined whether scoring of Stanford-Binet test items might be influenced by the examiner's prior knowledge of subjects' ethnicity and IQ. Stanford-Binet protocols (N=36) of subjects from five to eight years old were divided into four groups and assigned four groups of examiners. Results suggested no bias. (Author/JAC)

Studied the effects of experience in administration and scoring of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) on types of examiner errors. Results showed total score and administrative error rates dropped significantly with experience and feedback, but response scoring errors, mathematical errors, and IQ errors were not reduced…

Higher WISC-R scores were achieved by high school students receiving positive nonverbal treatment than by those receiving neutral nonverbal treatment. (Author/RL)

The special educator must be aware of possible sources of error in assessment of children with learning problems. Sources of error can be attributed to unconscious examiner bias, ambiguous test responses, linguistic and cultural differences of the examiner and examinee, previous test-taking experience, and problems with test reliability and…

Tested parochial school students with an examiner who wore a moderately proportioned gold cross, a gold Star of David, or no symbol. Results indicated scores varied as a function of the presence and type of symbol that was displayed. Discusses implications for practioners. (Author/JAC)

Recent empirical evidence for the influence of examiner's race on examinee's performance on intelligence tests is reviewed. The current literature, 1966 through 1980, offers little support for the hypothesis that examiner's race has a systematic effect on examinee's performance on intelligence tests. Conceptual and methodological issues are…

While some forms of test bias (for example, bias in selection and prediction) appear amenable to definitional consensus, a definition of cultural bias will remain problematic so long as it is confused with the nature/nurture issue. (Author/BW)

For many years there has been concern about whether sex bias exists in various assessments. A literature review reveals little if any sex bias in UK national assessments at GCSE. Oxford, Cambridge and RSA examiners, for three case study subjects, completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, a self-report inventory that measures the extent to which…

This research focuses on the examination of problems related to the national teacher performance appraisal system by the Thai Ministry of Education. It highlights major problems of the current performance appraisal system by delineating the weaknesses and pitfalls of the current appraisal system. The findings indicate problems to three major…