Measurement: Bias

1
Measurement Bias

• Characteristics of a test that offend or unfairly
  penalize examinees because of their membership in
  particular groups or populations
• Religion.
• socioeconomic status.
• race, ethnicity or gender.
• Geography.

2
Poor Performance ? Bias

• Just because different classes of individuals
  perform differently on an assessment does not
  mean that the assessment is biased against one or
  more of the groups.
• All assessments are biased against ignorance.
• Poor performance can indicate poor achievement.

3
Strategies for EliminatingBias in Assessments

• Judgmental Approaches.
• Review panels.
• Judgements regarding specific items and overall
  test content.
• Differential Item Functioning (DIF) procedures.
• Being sensitive to the possibility of bias in
  classroom assessments.