Recent efforts to opt out of assessments have focused attention on the role that testing plays in accountability reforms in the United States. While opt-out activists often invoke the disproportionate impact of these reforms on communities of color, opting out has been more widespread in mostly White, affluent, and suburban communities. This study…

(Purpose) This literature review discusses the prevalence of bias against minorities in all aspects of selection for gifted and talented services. (Findings) Topics addressed in this paper include: (1) progression of the definition of giftedness; (2) minority bias in gifted identification and referrals by school personnel; (3) discriminatory…

The author looks at critical dialogue surrounding the causes for the alarming high numbers of high school dropouts in states that use high stakes standardized testing mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, and investigates the perceived correlations between high stakes testing and high numbers of high school dropouts of minority students.

Questions are addressed that focus on why lower class and minority group test takers score lower on standardized tests than their middle class Anglo counterparts. The questions include the following: (1) In what ways can dialect differences affect testing? (2) How can dialect differences directly affect a test of language? (3) Shouldn't standard…

Suggests that psychological and educational testing of members of linguistic minority groups should take into account the diverse social, political, and economic realities moderated by educational opportunities, which in turn are closely linked to standardized testing. Discusses conceptual and operational issues in the area of minority group…

Recent empirical evidence concerning sex and racial bias in testing is discussed in terms of three primary sources of bias: (1) content of the test itself, (2) atmosphere in which the test is administered, and (3) the use to which the test results are put. Test content that is demonstrably more difficult for one group than another should be (1)…

The paper discusses test bias; presents the rationale of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA), a test instrument which assumes equal cultural and racial intellectual potential but asserts that there is not one normal curve of measured intellectual performance; and suggests that the test would correct racial and cultural test…

The issue addressed in this paper deals with the extent to which the general use of tests by well-meaning counselors maybe harmful in its implications when applied to student populations who do not fit the mainstream cultural pattern. (Author)

The present study was conducted to determine (1) if the quantitative section of the Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business is more speeded for black examinees than for white, and (2) if reducing or increasing the degree of speededness has a differential effect on the scores of minority versus majority group members. (Author)

There are many potential sources of test bias besides that of the particular item content within the test. The other potential sources, designated here as program and utilization must also be encompassed in any thorough and effective program to increase the accuracy of assessment for members of ethnic minorities. As usual, the research findings…

This essay discusses testing of the disadvantaged and the possibilities for new approaches to the problem. The black community's resistance to testing and the legal implications of employment and educational discrimination which results from testing are discussed. The objections to testing the disadvantaged are reviewed. At the end, it is hoped…

The annotated bibliography on nondiscriminatory testing contains approximately 75 abstracts and associated indexing information for documents published from 1962 to 1974 and selected from the computer files of the Council for Exceptional Children's Information Services and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). Citations are…

The problems and intricacies involved in fairly interpreting and applying federally mandated testing legislation are discussed in terms of the competency-testing issue evolving in many Florida public high schools. (LH)

The three papers provided here were presented at the GRE Board Research Seminar: (1) "Background, Purpose, and Scope of the GRE Board Research Program" by Bryce Crawford, Jr.; (2) "Predicting Success in Graduate Education" by Warren W. Willingham; and (3) "Research on Testing and the Minority Student" by Ronald L.…

In this article, the author examines the construction of standardized testing not only as a cultural product, but as an imperialistic product. She conducts both a postcolonial discussion of the critique of testing and examines the ways that children of color are represented in the content. Recognizing first that the increased use of tests is part…