Research Paper on:
Testing and Assessment: An Ethical Inquiry

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Skills) to the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), used for college admissions, have been under close scrutiny because of claims of racial and gender bias. Kohn (2000) offers some  significant factors that influence the outcomes and views of standardized testing that support the question of testing bias. First, Kohn (2000) argues that noninstructional factors often determine major variations  in testing outcomes, especially when comparing populations of learners. For example, factors like the number of parents living in a home, the type of community, and the socioeconomic status  of learners all determine differences in comparative testing scores (Kohn, 2000). Further, Kohn (2000) also argues that standardized testing is inherently flawed because it measures superficial thinking.  Standardized testing, especially in a multiple choice format, rarely adequately test active learning processes or the ability to connect present and past learning. Instead, standardized testing tests for  the ability to correctly reiterate an answer and to memorize facts (Kohn, 2000). Many educators spend too much time preparing students to take standardized tests, rather than learning conceptually,  and this can influence the outcomes of testing processes (Kohn, 2000). In addition, bias in the testing process is often an outcome of factors that are not within an educators  or students control. For example, critics have argued that standardized testing is socioeconomically biased, because it is based in a body of knowledge that is possessed more often by  children of privilege (Kohn, 2000). In addition, bias based on racial differences and gender differences has been viewed as a part of the assessment of standardized testing and its  application in terms of the influence on low-income, racial homogenous and gender-specific populations. Bias in the testing process also exacerbates educational limitations and must be considered