Fairness Review Publications

The ETS Office of Professional Standards Compliance performs audits of all ETS tests to help ensure that they meet the exacting criteria of the ETS fairness standards that reflect our commitment to produce fair, valid and reliable tests.

Below you can find the ETS Standards for Quality and Fairness and other publications that further describe the ETS fairness guidelines:

ETS Standards for Quality and Fairness

The ETS Standards provide benchmarks of excellence and are used by ETS staff throughout the process of design, development and delivery to provide technically fair, valid, and reliable tests, research, and related products and services. These standards are publicly available here.

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A Validity Framework for the Use and Development of Exported Assessments

Tests developed solely for domestic populations are increasingly being used by more diverse, international populations. ETS examines potential challenges for multiple populations (international) and identifies best practices for them with respect to opportunity to learn, curricular knowledge, and social or cultural differences.

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Guidelines for Constructed-Response and Other Performance Assessments

These guidelines are designed to assist staff in accumulating validity evidence for developing and scoring constructed-response and other performance assessments.

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Best Practices for Constructed-Response Scoring

This document describes a set of best practices for developing, implementing and maintaining the critical process of scoring constructed-response tasks.

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ETS Guidelines for Fair Tests and Communications

The ETS Guidelines for Fair Tests and Communications identifies aspects of test questions that might hinder people in various groups from performing at optimal levels and helps enhance the overall effectiveness of communications. Fairness reviews are conducted by specially trained reviewers.

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ETS International Principles for the Fairness of Assessments

The International Principles for the Fairness of Assessments are designed to ensure that our tests and related products are fair and appropriate for the culture and country in which they are used.

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Guidelines for the Assessment of English-language Learners

Designed for test developers, testing program administrators, psychometricians and educational agencies, these guidelines were developed to ensure that assessments are fair and valid for English-language learners.

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Guidelines for Best Test Development Practices to Ensure Validity and Fairness for International English-language Proficiency Assessments

These guidelines focus on the recommended best practices for the development of English-language proficiency assessments taken by international test-taker populations.

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How ETS Works to Improve Test Accessibility

This publication provides practical guidance about how assessments can be made as accessible as possible to most test takers, including those with disabilities who do not need alternate test formats (ATFs).

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