title: Implementing fairness in racial-group assessment requires assessment of individuals.
abstract: 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.
authors: Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. helmsja@bc.edu
authors: Janet E
authors: JE
authors: Helms
mesh_terms: D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012935:Social Justice