Bias (Testing)

Bias in testing is a concern of psychologists, sociologists, and the general public; but the word bias has numerous meanings. Much of the controversy regarding bias in testing is reflected in what might be considered racial or ethnic bias. For the general public and sometimes with other groups, simple group differences in test performance are often interpreted as evidence of bias in the test (e.g., white versus African American intelligence quotient [IQ] scores). This assertion makes an assumption that there can be no group differences in test performance, lest the test be biased against the lower-performing group. This position may be the result of confusing two issues that should be kept separate: test bias and etiology of group differences (Reynolds & colleagues, 1999). Most often, bias in testing is focused on intelligence tests or other aptitude measures, but any psychological test (achievement, personality, psychopathology, perceptual-motor, etc.) can (and should) be the focus of bias investigation.

Bias in psychological testing has been a factor in several notable court cases. According to Reschly and Bersoff (1999), the first two class action law suits that [Page 68]directly challenged the use of IQ tests were Diana v. State Board of Education and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School District No. 3. Both cases were concerned with the overrepresentation of Hispanic children (and also Native American children in Guadalupe) in public education programs for the mentally retarded, and such overrepresentation was a violation of the principle of equal protection. It was also argued that identification and placement of children were made using verbally loaded tests that were unfair for limited English proficient (LEP) children. These two cases were resolved by consent decrees that specified, among other things, that children with LEP would be assessed using nonverbal measures or with measures that were in the child's primary language (Reschly & Bersoff, 1999).

Larry P. v. Riles was a class action lawsuit supported by the Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists on behalf of African American children who were overrepresented in public education programs for the mentally retarded (Reschly & Bersoff, 1999). Judge Peckham ruled that IQ tests used to classify children as mentally retarded and subsequent placement in special education programs were biased against African American children. In his opinion, a test that showed simple mean differences between groups was in and of itself evidence of bias. The ruling banned the use of IQ tests with African American students for consideration of a mental retardation classification and placement into special education classes (Reschly & Bersoff, 1999). This ruling was upheld in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1984. In 1986, Judge Peckham approved a settlement that prohibited administration of IQ tests to African American students for any special education purpose. Finally, in Crawford et al. v. Honig, a class action case where African American parents who wanted their children to receive IQ testing for possible diagnosis of a specific learning disability (SLD), Judge Peckham rescinded the 1986 ruling of Larry P. and returned to the original 1979 ruling prohibiting the use of IQ tests with African American children for classification and placement for mental retardation (Reschly & Bersoff, 1999).

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