Human Diversity, Assessment in Education and the Achievement of Excellence and Equity

Author: Wade Boykin

Consulting Editors: Charlene Rivera, Kenji Hakuta, and Pedro Noguera

The ability of standardized tests to account for differences in human diversity in order to produce equitable outcomes is in question. The author of this paper is being asked to examine those issues that remain unaddressed in the continuing debates surrounding claims that standardized tests place some populations at a disadvantage. We need to know if the pursuit of both excellence and equity in education is being frustrated by the character of the psychometric instruments and procedures that are used to assess educational progress and achievement. The author is also being asked to consider whether it is possible that the essential features of intellective competence can be identified in persons whose cultural forms, life experiences, opportunities to learn and cultural identities are at variance from those that are hegemonic.