Abstract
Efforts to develop standards for tests and testing practices have a long history. The purpose of this chapter is to identify these various efforts to develop test standards as well as to document the nature of the changes in these standards over the years. Of special interest in this chapter are the three major revisions of the APA’s Ethical Standards of Psychologists, and APA, AERA, and NCME’s Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests. In a final section of the chapter, several suggestions are offered about the issues which the two sets of standards, ethical and technical, do and do not treat.
A high school newspaper carried a page one headline: “Meet the geniuses of the incoming class,” and listed all pupils of IQ 120 and up with numerical scores. Then under a heading: “These are not geniuses, but good enough” were listed all the rest, with IQ scores down to the 60s.
A new battery of tests for reading readiness was introduced in a school. Instead of the customary two or three, 12 beginners were this year described by the test as not ready for reading. They were placed in a special group and given no reading instruction. The principal insisted that if the parents or anyone else tried to teach them to read “Their little minds would crack under the strain.” In at least two cases parents did teach them to read with normal progress in the first semester, and later mental tests showed IQ’s above 120 (APA, 1953).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
AERA, APA, & NCME. (1985). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: APA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1953). Ethical standards of psychologists. Washington, DC: APA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1959). Ethical standards of psychologists. (1959). American Psychologist 14:279–282.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1967). Casebook on ethical standards of psychologists. Washington, DC: APA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1977). Ethical standards of psychologists. Washington, DC: APA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1981). Ethical principles of psychologists. American Psychologist 36:633–638.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1981). Ethical principles of psychologists (1981 Revisions). Washington, DC: APA.
APA, AERA, & NCMUE (National Council on Measurements Used in Education). (1954). Technical recommendations for psychological tests and diagnostic techniques (Reprinted in Buros, 1972). Washington, DC: APA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1955). Standards for educational and psychological tests and manuals (Reprinted in Buros, 1972). Washington, DC: National Education Association.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1974). Standards for educational and psychological tests (Reprinted in Buros, 1974). Washington, DC: APA.
APGA (American Personnel and Guidance Association). (1961). Ethical standards. Personnel and Guidance Journal 40(2):206–209.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1965). Ethical standards casebook. Washington, DC: APGA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1972). Ethical standards. Washington, DC: APGA.
APA (American Psychological Association). (1976). Ethical standards casebook, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: APGA.
Bledstein, B. (1976). The culture of professionalism. New York: Norton.
Brown, F. G. (1980). Guidelines for test use: A commentary on the standards for educational and psychological tests. Washington, DC: National Council on Measurement in Education.
Buros, O. K. (1961). Tests in print. Highland Park, NJ: Gryphon.
Buros, O. K. (1972). Personality tests and reviews. Highland Park, NJ: Gryphon.
Buros, O. K. (1974). Tests in print II. Highland Park, NJ: Gryphon.
Clapp, J. (1974). Professional ethics and insignia. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
Cohen, D.K., & Garet, M.S. (1975). Reforming educational policy and applied research. Harvard Educational Review 45:17–43.
Cronbach, L.J., Gleser, G.C., Nanda, H., & Rajaratnam, N. (1972). The dependability of behavioral measurements. New York: Wiley.
Daniels, A. K. (1973). How free should professionals be? In E. Freidson (ed.), The professions and their prospects. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, pp. 39–57.
Della-Piana, G. M. (1986). The 1985 test standards: Where do they leave the teacher-as-test-user? Unpublished paper, University of Utah.
Dobbins, J.E. (1966). The professional service representative of a test publisher [Review of 1966 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals], Educational and Psychological measurement 26:751–753.
ETS (Educational Testing Service). (1971). Handbook for STEP Series II. Princeton, NJ: ETS.
Dobbins, J.E. (1986). ETS standards for quality and fairness. Princeton, NJ: ETS.
Fremer, J., Diamond, E. E., & Camara, W.J. (1989). Developing a code of fair testing practices in education. American Psychologist, 44:1062–1067.
Goldstein, H., et al. (1975). Schools. In N. Hobbs (ed.), Issues in the classification of children, Vol. II. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 4–61.
Hobbs, N. (ed.). (1975). The futures of children: Report of the project on classification of exceptional children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Holmen, M.G. (1978, September). Personal communication to Walter Haney of the Huron Institute.
Holmen, M. G., & Doctor, R. (1972). Educational psychological testing: A study of the industry and its practices. New York: Sage.
Holtzman, W. (1960). Some problems of defining ethical behavior. American Psychologist 15:247–250.
Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1981). Standards for evaluations of educational programs, projects and materials. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Kelley, T. (1924). Statistical method. New York: MacMillan.
Larson, M. S. (1977). The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Lennon, R. (1966). A measurement specialist and executive of a large test publishing firm [Review of 1966 Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals]. Educational and Psychological Measurement 26:753–756.
Lerner, B. (1978, May 15). The Supreme Court and the APA, AERA, NCME test standards: Past references and future possibilities. Paper presented at a conference of the National Consortium, Washington, DC.
Madaus, G. (1985). Public policy and the testing profession—You’ve never had it so good? Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice 4:5–11.
Mitchell, J. V. Jr. (ed.). (1985) The ninth mental measurements yearbook. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Oles, H.J., & Davis, G.D. (1977). Publishers violate APA standards on test distribution. Psychological Reports 41:713–714.
Orlans, H. (1973). Contracting for knowledge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Singleton, M. C. (n.d.). Historical survey of issues considered by the committee on psychological tests and assessment: 1895-1976. Unpublished paper, APA.
Stanley, J.C. (1971). Reliability. In R. L. Thorndike (ed.), Educational measurement, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, pp. 356–442.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Haney, W., Madaus, G. (1991). The Evolution of Ethical and Technical Standards for Testing. In: Hambleton, R.K., Zaal, J.N. (eds) Advances in Educational and Psychological Testing: Theory and Applications. Evaluation in Education and Human Services Series, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2195-5_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2195-5_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7484-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2195-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive