FairTest
Encyclopedia
The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as FairTest, is an American
education
al organization that addresses issues related to accuracy in student test taking and scoring.
(all students take the same test under the same conditions) such as the SAT or ACT "consistently under-predicts the performance of women, African-Americans, people whose first language isn't English and generally anyone who's not a good test-taker." Fairtest maintains a list of more than 820 SAT optional schools.
and advocates for better ways of assessing students and providing accountability. It also works to remove state and local policies that require students to pass a standardized test
(one where all students take the test under reasonably similar conditions) to graduate or be promoted to the next grade. It also has many materials on authentic, performance assessments and their uses for teaching and school improvement.
FairTest's current focus is reforming the federal No Child Left Behind law to make it an effective tool for school improvement and mobilizing those who oppose the current version of NCLB to advocate for a better law.
Beginning in 2004, FairTest brought together more than 128 national education, civil rights, religious, disability and civic organizations to endorse a Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB. Out of the Joint Statement came a working group called the Forum on Educational Accountability, which developed recommendations for a new federal law that would:
FairTest refused, and the College Board backed down claiming that an intern had written the threatening letter without authorization.
Right-wing bloggers have launched an attack on FairTest claiming that the lack of credentials, false claims, and political connections of those who run the organization; the unnamed sources of funding, and the organization's tax returns have all raised questions.. "[T]est-optional policies at colleges and universities lead[ing] to artificially inflated average SAT scores among incoming freshmen, ... which is fueled in large part by Fair Test political activists, ... provides sufficient reason for media and academic organizations to reassess their reliance on Fair Test and other political organizations for meaningful input in the college admissions debate."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al organization that addresses issues related to accuracy in student test taking and scoring.
SAT optional schools
FairTest alleges that a standardized testStandardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
(all students take the same test under the same conditions) such as the SAT or ACT "consistently under-predicts the performance of women, African-Americans, people whose first language isn't English and generally anyone who's not a good test-taker." Fairtest maintains a list of more than 820 SAT optional schools.
Other exams
FairTest also works to stop misuses of standardized admissions exams, such as the National Merit Scholarships, which it alleges create unfair barriers to equal opportunity and educational quality by relying on test scores to award millions of dollars in tuition aid.K-12 education
FairTest also explores kindergarten through 12th-grade assessment issues. It educates the public on the negative consequences of high-stakes testingHigh-stakes testing
A high-stakes test is a test with important consequences for the test taker. Passing has important benefits, such as a high school diploma, a scholarship, or a license to practice a profession...
and advocates for better ways of assessing students and providing accountability. It also works to remove state and local policies that require students to pass a standardized test
Standardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
(one where all students take the test under reasonably similar conditions) to graduate or be promoted to the next grade. It also has many materials on authentic, performance assessments and their uses for teaching and school improvement.
FairTest's current focus is reforming the federal No Child Left Behind law to make it an effective tool for school improvement and mobilizing those who oppose the current version of NCLB to advocate for a better law.
Beginning in 2004, FairTest brought together more than 128 national education, civil rights, religious, disability and civic organizations to endorse a Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB. Out of the Joint Statement came a working group called the Forum on Educational Accountability, which developed recommendations for a new federal law that would:
- Improve schools through high-quality professional development for teachers and administrators.
- Involve parents more deeply in school improvement, and enable families to better participate in their children's education.
- Continue to assess and report student learning, but base this on multiple measures, not just test scores. Expectations for achievement would be realistic, based on rates of improvement actually achieved by schools. Targeted assistance would replace sanctions. http://www.edaccountability.org
Controversy
"The College Board, which owns the SAT college entrance exam, is demanding that a nonprofit group critical of standardized tests remove from its Web site data that breaks down scores by race, income and sex."FairTest refused, and the College Board backed down claiming that an intern had written the threatening letter without authorization.
Right-wing bloggers have launched an attack on FairTest claiming that the lack of credentials, false claims, and political connections of those who run the organization; the unnamed sources of funding, and the organization's tax returns have all raised questions.. "[T]est-optional policies at colleges and universities lead[ing] to artificially inflated average SAT scores among incoming freshmen, ... which is fueled in large part by Fair Test political activists, ... provides sufficient reason for media and academic organizations to reassess their reliance on Fair Test and other political organizations for meaningful input in the college admissions debate."