Addressing concerns of some Alaska educators and parents about the fairness of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), this paper clarifies what can be expected of norm-referenced tests and examines the extent to which the results of the Alaska Statewide Student Assessment may be affected by test bias. Although some test items may ask questions…

Examined the incidence of differential item functioning (DIF) on 3 subtests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills using test scores for 2,867 Alaskan students, characterized as "Native" or White at fourth and sixth grades or sixth and eighth grades. Effect size differences favoring whites were larger when students of equal English…

In October 1989 Alaska conducted its statewide student assessment. Over 23,000 students in grades 4, 6, and 8 completed the reading, mathematics, and language arts sections of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). At the same time, a series of questionnaires asked building principals about their schools' philosophy, climate, and problems; asked…