ABSTRACT
With the widespread use of standardized tests, nearly every week there is a report of a security problem, some involving as many as tens of thousands of examinees. It is imperative that all stakeholders work together to reduce the number and costs of these incidents, which are widespread, ranging from those affecting dollars and time to those affecting the validity of scores. Due to the security pressures inherent in a high-stakes exam program, test developers tend to be insular organizations that restrict outside access to information about their exams. The risk is that such insularity can aggravate external security threats by leaving potential security partners undereducated about the nature of the stakes and risks faced by the test developer. While the test developer cannot completely control external security threats, it is possible to anticipate them and to enlist the aid of stakeholders in addressing them while simultaneously protecting secure materials. This chapter addresses the desirability of a thoughtful plan of communications pertaining to external stakeholders (e.g., examinees, users), contributors (e.g., question writers, reviewers), and profit-making entities (e.g., commercial test-prep companies). Those administering the tests (referred to here as “administrators”) are in some cases part of the user group (as in teachers administering standardized tests), and sometimes profiteers (as in commercial test administration vendors), but are generally treated as part of the stake-holding user group.
