Implementing fairness in racial-group assessment requires assessment of individuals.
Replies to comments by R. J. Griffore and D. A. Newman et al on the author's original article on test validity and cultural bias in racial-group assessment. Helms notes that, given that within-group variance exceeds between-groups variance, racial groups are probably simulating a psychological construct that is more strongly related to individuals' test scores than to their respective racial group's mean test scores. Therefore, models of individual differences, such as her Helms individual-differences (HID) model, that remove construct-irrelevant racial variance, are needed to make the testing process fair at the level of individual African American, Latino/Latina American, and Native American test takers. Her HID model is intended to focus attention on identifying the factors responsible for the racial-group-level differences and, thereby, assist test users to look beyond presumed physical appearance (e.g., racial-group designations) for explanations of individuals' cognitive abilities, knowledge, or skills test scores.
Helms
Janet E
JE
Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. helmsja@bc.edu
D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012935:Social Justice