| Let’s
Discuss Your Assessment Strategy (Part 3: Legal Issues)
by Steven B. Just
(Important Caveat: The author of this article
is not a lawyer! If you are going to initiate a high stakes
testing program within your company, please make sure you
consult with your corporate legal counsel and HR. For obvious
reasons companies take career-affecting decisions seriously.)
We live in a litigious society. Any time you
initiate testing with consequences you need to be prepared
for the possibility that someone is going to be unhappy with
his/her results – and that someone may decide that his/her
best means of redress is in the courts. Should that happen
you may be called upon to defend the validity of your testing
program (not just your tests). You will need to show that:
- You have a documented
process in place
- Expectations were clearly
communicated to your learners
- Your tests are fair,
valid and reliable
- Your testing is job
relevant
- Everyone was given
an equal opportunity to achieve success
- You have a process
for remediation in place
Let’s look at just one of these issues:
fairness. What makes a test fair? Tests are fair if:
- They test the subject
as it has been taught.
- All test takers have
equal access to relevant training prior to taking the test.
- All test takers take
the test under similar circumstances.
- All reasonable steps
have been taken to prevent individuals from cheating.
- The test has “face
validity.” Reviewers and test takers agree that the
test is a fair measure of subject matter competence.
- The test format is
relevant to the requirements of the job.
- The passing score has
been set in a scientific manner and is applied to all test
takers equally.
- The test is free of
cultural/racial/gender bias.
Will following these steps prevent you
from being the object of a complaint? No, probably not totally.
But if you are on the receiving end of a complaint they will
help you demonstrate the defensibility of your testing program.
(Next Time: Defining
Terms)
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