The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as FairTest, is an American
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
al organization that addresses issues related to fairness and accuracy in student test taking and scoring.
History
FairTest was founded in 1985 by leaders of civil rights and education groups to advance their view that the misuse, overuse and flaws of standardized testing practices may be detrimental to academic achievement and equal opportunity. FairTest has directed campaigns against perceived over-reliance on standardized tests, while advocating for alternatives that they claim may enhance equity and quality in education. FairTest provides related information to the public and policymakers, organizes collaborative assessment reform alliances, and provides training and support to parents, students, educators, civil rights and community organizations. The group focuses on testing in the public schools (K-12) and university admissions. Its efforts have a national focus, such as on federal testing requirements and college admissions tests (e.g.,
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...
and
ACT), while also working with state and local testing reform activists.
K-12 education
FairTest also explores kindergarten through 12th-grade assessment issues.
It educates the public on their interpretation that there are negative consequences of
high-stakes testing
A high-stakes test is a test with important consequences for the test taker. Passing has important benefits, such as a high school diploma, a scholarship, or a license to practice a profession. Failing has important disadvantages, such as being ...
and advocates alternatives of assessing students and providing accountability. It also works to remove state and local policies that require students to pass a
standardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predete ...
(one where all students take the test under reasonably similar conditions) to graduate or be promoted to the next grade. It also ha
many materialson alternative performance assessments and their uses for teaching and school improvement.
FairTest's current focus is reforming the federal
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
law to make it an effective tool for school improvement, and mobilizing those who oppose the current version of NCLB to advocate for a better law.
In January 2012, FairTest released a report detailing its claim that NCLB was a failure.
Beginning in 2004, FairTest brought together more than 128 national education, civil rights, religious, disability and civic organizations to endorse
Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB Out of the Joint Statement came a working group called th
Forum on Educational Accountability which developed recommendations for a new federal law that would:
* Improve schools through high-quality professional development for teachers and administrators.
* Involve parents more deeply in school improvement, and enable families to better participate in their children's education.
* Continue to assess and report student learning, but base this on multiple measures, not just test scores. Expectations for achievement would be realistic, based on rates of improvement actually achieved by schools. Targeted assistance would replace sanctions
In 2009, FairTest created an annual award to acknowledge educational leaders who have strongly advocated for principles shared by FairTest. The award is named the "Deborah W. Meier Hero in Education Award." Recipients include
Deborah Meier
Deborah Meier (born April 6, 1931) is an American educator often considered the founder of the modern small schools movement. After spending several years as a kindergarten teacher in Chicago, Philadelphia and then New York City, in 1974, Meier be ...
.
Diane Ravitch
Diane Silvers Ravitch (born July 1, 1938) is a historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, she was a U.S. A ...
,
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol (born September 5, 1936) is an American writer, progressive activist, and educator, best known for his books on public education in the United States.
Education and experience
Born to Harry Kozol and Ruth (Massell) Kozol, Jonat ...
,
Michelle Fine
Michelle Melody Fine (born December 28, 1952) is a distinguished professor at the City University of New York and has her training in Social and Personality Psychology, Environmental Psychology, American Studies, and Urban Education. Her research i ...
,
Karen Lewis (labor leader)
Karen Lewis ( Jennings; July 20, 1953 – February 7, 2021) was an American educator and labor leader who served as president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago's division of the American Federation of Teachers, from 2010 to 2014. Fo ...
,
Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conducting, conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College.
Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career
Botstein was ...
,
Lani Guinier
Carol Lani Guinier (; April 19, 1950 – January 7, 2022) was an American educator, legal scholar, and civil rights theorist. She was the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and the first woman of color appointed to a tenured p ...
and Nancy Carlsson-Paige.
University admissions
SAT optional schools
FairTest alleges that a
standardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predete ...
(all students take the same test under the same conditions) such as the SAT or ACT "consistently under-predicts the performance of women, African-Americans, people whose first language isn't English and generally anyone who's not a good test-taker." Fairtest maintains a list of nearly 850
SAT optional schools.
Other exams
FairTest also works to stop misuses of standardized admissions exams, such as the ''
national merit scholarships'', which it alleges create unfair barriers to equal opportunity and educational quality by relying on test scores to award millions of dollars in tuition aid.
Controversy
In 2004, the
College Board
The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...
, owners of the
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...
, asked FairTest to remove a detailed analysis of performance on standardized tests by race, income and sex.
FairTest refused, and the College Board backed down claiming that an intern had written the threatening letter without authorization.
See also
2019 college admissions bribery scandal
In 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. The investigation into the conspiracy was code named Operation Varsity Blues. The investigation and rela ...
, cheating on SAT and ACT tests
References
{{reflist
External links
Official website- ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
*
ttp://www.edaccountability.org Forum on Educational Accountability
Standardized tests in the United States
Education policy organizations in the United States