Which is more equitable, teacher-assigned grades or high-stakes tests? Nationwide, there is a growing trend toward the adoption of standardized tests as a means to determine promotion and graduation. “High-stakes testing” raises several concerns regarding the equity of such policies. In this article, the authors examine the question of whether high-stakes tests will mitigate or exacerbate inequ...

this study aimed at investigating differential item functioning (dif) on the special english test of the iranian national university entrance exam (inuee). the effect of gender and subject area was taken into account. the study utilized one-parameter irt model with a sample of 36000 students who sat for the inuee special english test in 2004 and/or 2005. the findings confirmed the presence of d...

Existing evidence suggests that high stakes exams result in little increased learning among students (Amrein & Berliner, 2002; Klein, Hamilton, McCaffrey, & Stetcher, 2000; Koretz, Mitchell, & Stetcher, 1996). Yet, given the federal mandates for greater accountability, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and Race to the Top policies, and the “pervasive testing culture” (Moses & Nann...

How do proficiency-based accountability systems affect inequality in academic achievement? This paper reconciles mixed findings in the literature by demonstrating that three factors jointly determine accountability's impact. First, by analyzing student-level data from a large urban school district, we find that when educators face accountability pressure, they focus attention on students closes...

In high-stakes selection among candidates with considerable domain-specific knowledge and experience, investigations of whether high-fidelity simulations (assessment centers; ACs) have incremental validity over low-fidelity simulations (situational judgment tests; SJTs) are lacking. Therefore, this article integrates research on the validity of knowledge tests, low-fidelity simulations, and hig...

While the use of high-stakes testing in education is increasingly common, it is also controversial as opponents argue that these tests lead to distortion of teacher activity towards the test and away from activities that are not incentivized. An alternate use of tests that is suggested as a way of improving student learning outcomes is to use lowstakes tests to provide teachers with detailed di...