West Clermont Local School District
Administrative Guidelines
 

2623D - STANDARDS RELATIVE TO THE ETHICAL USE OF ASSESSMENTS BY STAFF

It is the District’s intent to verify that staff members comply with the State Department of Education’s guidelines for the ethical use of assessments. These guidelines are designed to provide guidance for determining whether or not a practice related to the assessment of students is consistent with the principle that a staff member perform his/her responsibilities with honesty and integrity and that only reliable and valid inferences are made from the assessment results.

In addition to assuring that any and all assessment security provisions are complied with, the District Test Coordinator (DTC) and the Building Test Coordinators (BTCs) shall be responsible for monitoring practices related to:

 

A.

preparing students for assessments;

   
 

B.

administering and scoring assessments;

   
 

C.

interpreting and/or using assessment results;

   
 

D.

reporting assessment results.

All appropriate District staff shall have knowledge of these standards of ethical assessment practice and the DTC and BTCs shall monitor the practices of District staff for compliance with these standards. The District shall require annual written communication to all designated staff regarding:

 

A.

the standards defining what is an unethical and/or inappropriate practice according to law, as well as standards of ethical assessment practice;

   
 

B.

the definition of how the standards will be monitored, what sanctions shall apply for any violations of the standards, and under what circumstances such sanctions will apply;

   
 

C.

the purpose(s) for each assessment;

   
 

D.

security procedures established for each type of secure assessment as established by Administrative Code;

     
 

E.

information and training as may be necessary to provide that staff have the knowledge and skills necessary to make ethical decisions related to:

   
 

1.

preparing students for an assessment;

   
 

2.

administering and/or scoring an assessment; and

   
 

3.

interpreting and/or using any results of an assessment;

   
 

F.

written procedures for reviewing what materials and practices shall be used to prepare students for an assessment, administering and/or scoring an assessment, and/or interpreting and/or using any result of an assessment; and

   
 

G.

channels of communication that allow teachers, other educators, students, parents, and/or other members of the community to voice concerns about assessment practices.

The DTC shall be responsible for investigating any complaint, allegation, and/or concern about an unethical and/or inappropriate practice, protecting the rights of affected individuals, and verifying the integrity of an assessment and any result of an assessment. A report of all such complaints and findings of investigation shall be filed promptly with the Superintendent.

Unethical or Inappropriate Practices in Preparing Students for Assessments

When preparing students for annual assessments, staff members shall refrain from engaging in any:

 

A.

preparation activity that undermines the reliability and/or validity of an inference made from the result of an assessment;

   
 

B.

preparation practice that results solely in raising scores or performance levels on a specific assessment, without simultaneously increasing a student’s achievement level as measured by other tasks and/or assessments designed to assess the same content domain;

     
 

C.

practice involving the reproduction of any secure assessment materials, through any medium, for use in preparing a student for an assessment;

   
 

D.

preparation activity that includes a question, task, graph, chart, passage or other material included in an assessment, and/or material that is a paraphrase or highly similar in content to what is in an assessment;

   
 

E.

preparation for an assessment that focuses primarily on the assessment, including its format, rather than on the objectives being assessed;

   
 

F.

any preparation practice that does not comply with, or has the appearance of not complying with, any statutory and/or regulatory provision related to security of assessment; and

   
 

G.

any practice that supports or assists others in conducting unethical or inappropriate preparation activities.

Unethical or Inappropriate Practices in Administering and Scoring Assessments

Unless specifically permitted by written instructions provided by the developer or as provided through an individual education program (IEP), when administering and/or scoring annual assessments, staff members shall refrain from:

 

A.

using an assessment for purposes other than that for which it was intended;

   
 

B.

engaging in a practice that results in a potential conflict of interest for, or one that exerts undue influence on a person administering and/or scoring an assessment, either making or appearing to make an assessment process unfair to some students;

     
 

C.

except for accommodations and/or alternate assessments expressly permitted under Administrative Code, any change in procedures for administering and/or scoring the assessment that results in nonstandard and/or delimiting conditions for one (1) or more students;

   
 

D.

engaging a practice that allows a person without sufficient and appropriate knowledge and skills and/or training to administer and/or score an assessment;

   
 

E.

engaging in any administration and/or scoring practice that may produce a result contaminated by factors not relevant to the purposes of an assessment;

   
 

F.

excluding one (1) or more students from an assessment solely because the student has not performed well, or may not perform well, on the assessment and/or because the aggregate performance of a group may be affected;

   
 

G.

any practice immediately preceding and/or during an assessment including, but limited to the use of a gesture, facial expression, body language, language, or any other action and/or sound that may guide a student’s response;

   
 

H.

except for the directions for administration as prescribed by the test developer and/or ODE, any practice such as providing to a student immediately preceding and/or during administration of an assessment, any definition and/or clarification of the meaning of a word or term contained in an assessment;

   
 

I.

any practice that corrects or alters any student's response to an assessment either during and/or following the administration and/or scoring of an assessment; and

     
 

J.

supporting or assisting any person in unethical or inappropriate practices during the administration and/or scoring of an assessment.

Unethical or Inappropriate Practices in Interpreting and Using Results

When interpreting and/or using any result of an assessment, staff members shall refrain from:

 

A.

providing interpretations of, and/or using, any result of an assessment in a manner and/or for a purpose that was not intended;

   
 

B.

making false, misleading, or inappropriate statements and/or unsubstantiated claims that may lead to false and/or misleading conclusions about any result of an assessment;

   
 

C.

permitting designated staff without the necessary knowledge and skills to interpret and/or use any result of an assessment;

   
 

D.

violating or placing at risk, the confidentiality of personally identifiable information pursuant to R.C. 3319.321;

   
 

E.

providing an interpretation, or suggesting a use, of any result of an assessment without due consideration of the purpose(s) for the assessment, the limitations of the assessment, an examinee's characteristics, any irregularities in administering and/or scoring the assessment, and/or other factors that may affect the results; and

   
 

F.

supporting or leading any person to interpret and/or use any result of an assessment in unethical or inappropriate ways.

Unethical or Inappropriate Practices in Reporting Results:

Under no circumstance shall the following personally identifiable information be disclosed to any entity: a student’s (or his/her family member’s) social security number(s), religion, political party affiliation, voting history, or biometric information.

If a staff member has reason to believe that there has been a violation of the standards for the ethical use of tests committed by another staff member or volunteer, s/he shall contact the building principal immediately and provide the name(s) of the violator(s) and the nature of the alleged violation(s). The District shall cooperate with the State Board of Education in conducting an investigation of any alleged unethical and/or inappropriate assessment practice as defined in A.C. 3301-7.

If the violation(s) is/are verified, the District’s due-process procedures are to be used in dealing with the violator. If the violator is a member of the staff, s/he may be subject to loss of certification/licensure and/or dismissal from the District. If the violator is a volunteer, s/he may be immediately released from his/her volunteer services with the District.

The District Test Coordinator shall make the decision whether or not to invalidate the student’s test score on each test that was violated or all of the tests. Within ten (10) days of the violation, the District Test Coordinator is to notify the State Department of Education concerning the nature of the violation and the action that was taken against the violator.

Staff members shall be provided with this guideline prior to the beginning of each test administration period and shall be required to acknowledge receipt of this guideline on an annual basis.

Revised 2/10/15

© Neola 2014