Improve Testing Practices and Ensure Compliance

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has focused the attention of educators on testing as never before. Yet many other federal laws apply to the use of tests, as well, especially with regard to the use of tests for student accountability. Yet in this “high-stakes” testing environment, where tests have consequences for individual students, it’s important for educators and policymakers to keep in mind the ultimate goal: helping all students achieve. The following checklist—drawn from an assortment of federal laws—can help educators use tests properly.

An Educator’s Checklist on Test Use: Foundations for Improving Testing Practices and Ensuring Legal Compliance

1. Recognize that individual decisions regarding the delivery or denial of educational benefits can implicate a range of federal laws.
   Where an assessment has consequences for students in that it can result in the denial of some educational opportunity or benefit—such as grade-to-grade promotion, high-school graduation, or even educational interventions—several federal laws may apply and require, among other things, that the given assessment be valid and appropriate for its purpose.
2. Be aware that federal education and civil rights laws, properly understood and implemented, reinforce sound educational practices.
   The more educationally sound a given assessment system and the more focused it is to be consistent with federal legal requirements. And much of the legal analysis regarding the propriety of a given test for a given purpose will depend on evidence of its educational soundness for that purpose.
3. Know your purpose
   The purpose for which a given educator or policymaker will use assessment data drives all other inquiries regarding the validity of the assessment, and has substantial legal significance.
4. Gather validity evidence.
   Anyone using assessment data should have a process for gathering evidence regarding whether the given test is valid for its specific purpose(s) and for enhancing validity over time.
5. Promote inclusion and appropriate accommodation.
   English-language learners and students with disabilities generally must be included in assessment programs with appropriate accommodations, and these issues should likely be addressed at the front end of the testing program to ensure meaningful participation. It is important that state or district actors understand with clarity the skills, abilities, and knowledge that a test measures before they make judgments about what accommodations may be appropriate.
6. Establish reasonable standards
   Any standards-based reform effort is a “work in progress”, and federal courts are likely to recognize this. Set the bar where appropriate for the given goals, but avoid setting the bar so high that it bears little relation to the kind and quality of teaching and learning taking place, and unduly invites backlash (and potential litigation).
7. Have good data and use it to improve educational outcomes.
   The importance of having systems that accurately reflect student performance in a manner that is disaggregated according to race, national origin, sex, disability, English language learner status, socio-economic status, and the like cannot be overstated. A good data system can be an important foundation for demonstrating a system-wide commitment to accurate results and success for all students. (This is, in fact one of the cornerstones of NCLB, which recognizes that what a state does with its picture of student performance is critical in establishing that the right foundations are in place, educationally and legally.)
8. Focus on inputs – early and often.
   Ensure that there is a coherent system in place (formal or not) for ensuring that common curricular and instructional foundations (i.e., opportunity to learn) exist for all students, both at the front end and through intervention and remediation over time.
9. Know that timing is everything.
   The establishment of validity, including curricular validity, including curricular validity, and the attachment of consequences to test results should be balanced. The perfect need not be the enemy of the good, but neither should individual student consequences get too far ahead of the information and conditions that support sound judgments. The importance of sufficient notice to parents and students regarding the timing and implementation of testing programs and practices is also critical, especially given the relationship between such notice and the opportunity-to-learn obligation.
10. Ensure appropriate use of assessment data in decision-making.
    The appropriate use of assessment data (e.g., promoting multiple opportunities tied to educational interventions and, in many cases, using multiple measures to evaluate performance) in making individual student decisions can help avoid false negatives and result in a stronger position educationally and legally.

Adapted from: Coleman and Palmer, An Educator’s Handbook on Federal Law: Ensuring that No Latino Child is Left Behind. The National Association of Latino Appointed and Elected Officials Educational Fund (2003), www.naleo.org. Reprinted with permission.

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