ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how to design and develop fair tests. It begins with a brief discussion of some of the meanings of fairness in testing and recommends that test designers and developers use a definition of fairness linked to validity. The chapter makes the point that construct-relevant sources of score variance allow valid and fair inferences about test takers. The primary goal of test designers and developers can be thought of as increasing the proportion of desired, construct-relevant (valid and fair) score variance and decreasing the proportion of undesired, construct-irrelevant (invalid and potentially unfair) score variance. Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) is a family of modern test development practices based on evidentiary reasoning. ECD includes procedures that help test designers decide what to measure and how best to measure it. ECD also includes procedures that help test developers link the claims to be made about test takers to the evidence revealed by their performances on tasks in a test.
