Fairness and Test Use: The Case of the SAT and Writing Placement for ESL Students

Abstract

In the United States, many students planning to attend college are required to take the SAT test as part of the college admissions process. Currently called the SAT Reasoning Test, this exam includes sections measuring reading, writing, and math skills considered necessary for college-level study. The results of the SAT and placement exams involve high-stakes decisions about test-takers, such as their acceptance to a university and/or exemption from coursework; hence, the consequences of inaccurate results may lead to unnecessary hardship for test-takers. Instructors, too, may indirectly suffer if they must accommodate very disparate levels of students in their classes as well as respond to students’ dissatisfaction with their course assignments. Thus, whenever assessments “serve as both door-openers and gate keepers” (Bachman & Purpura, in press), test users must be particularly vigilant in ensuring that test scores are interpreted accurately, and that tests are used as intended. This commentary focuses on test use and how it influences the fairness of decisions made on the basis of test scores. More precisely, I argue that adopting tests for purposes other than those for which they were created is not only irresponsible, but potentially unjust.