What does "bias" mean in terms of testing in early childhood special education? Give an example of how a norm-referenced test or a criterion-referenced assessment might be biased.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Bias in testing means that there are some characteristics on the test that may discriminate against a child based on gender, socioeconomic status, or cultural or linguistic background. A bias may exist in the norm-referenced test or criterion-referenced assessment due to the fact that a child, for example, is from a minority group with a different cultural or linguistically diverse background where particular words or phrases may be unfamiliar to the child. This might include the use of the word “friend” on a test. In American (Western) culture, friend is used loosely to mean someone a person is acquainted with and/or someone we “like” and interact with on a regular basis. In Western culture, we differentiate between best friends, close friends, or casual friends. A child from a non-Western background, however, may have a different meaning for friend, where only those people who are very close are considered “friends,” and/or where there is less distinction between “best,” “close,” or “casual” friends. Such language use on a test can be culturally biased toward a child from a non-Western and thus negatively shape their understanding or ability to perform correctly on a test.