Chapter 3: Legal, Ethical, and Diversity Foundations and Perspectives in Assessment ONLINE MODULE

Ethics and Assessment Counselors must follow laws and ethical standards. Purposes of ethical standards To educate members about sound ethical behavior To provide a mechanism for accountability To serve as a means for improving professional practice To educate the public about the standards of behavior they can expect

Kitchener’s 5 Moral Principles They are the cornerstone of the ACA’s Ethical Standards and they include: Autonomy Nonmaleficence Beneficence Justice Fidelity

The various parts of Section E of the ACA Code of Ethics: Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation include: General Competence to use and interpret assessment instruments Informed consent in assessment Release of data to qualified professionals Diagnosis of mental disorders Instrument selection Conditions of assessment administration Multicultural issues/Diversity in assessment Scoring and interpretation of assessments Assessment security Obsolete assessments and outdated results Assessment construction Forensic evaluation: evaluation for legal proceedings

Ethical Decision Making The ACA’s Seven Step Ethical Decision Making Model: Identify the problem Apply the ACA Code of Ethics Determine the nature and dimensions of the dilemma Generate potential courses of action Consider the potential consequences of all options and determine a course of action Evaluate the selected course of action Implement the course of action

Legal Issues in Assessment Laws must be followed, even if they conflict with ethical standards. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 (ADA) Court Cases

FERPA Protects the privacy of student records by giving parents specific rights and limiting the rights of others to view student records. PPRA requires informed parental consent if students take surveys regarding sensitive information. NCLB requires that schools make instructional materials available for review by parents.

NCLB High-stakes testing and accountability place students and teachers under increased pressure to perform. While the intent to ensure that all children achieve at high academic levels is laudable, many educators are concerned that the focus on assessment competes with the focus on learning.

IDEA Outlines the process for referring, assessing, identifying, placing, and instructing students with handicapping conditions Decisions must be made using a multidisciplinary team.

HIPAA HIPAA protects health information much the same way FERPA protects student records. Any assessment used as a basis for employment decisions that adversely affected hiring, promotion, transfer, or any other activity protected by the law constituted discrimination unless the test was validated for the reason it was being used and the person handling the personnel matter could not use other procedures.

ADA Requires that reasonable accommodations must be provided for persons who are determined to be impaired.

Court Decisions Related to Diversity in Assessment Hobson v. Hanson (1967) determined that tests developed on White students could not be used to place African- American students. Diana v. State Board of Education concerned the use of intelligence tests for bilingual students. Larry P. v. Riles (1979) determined that intelligence tests could not be used to place African-American students in special education classes. Crawford v. Honig (1992) lifted this ban so that minority students could qualify for the services intended to help them.

Controversies in Assessment: Tests are Biased and Unfair to Minorities and Women Test authors attempt to ensure fairness in test content. However, culture affects behavior and test items measure behavior so it is impossible to remove the effect of culture. It is equally critical that the performance criterion also be free from bias, which is nearly impossible.

Diversity Issues in Assessment Understanding diversity depends on understanding the differences among race, ethnicity, and culture. Diversity factors involved in assessment: Difference Worldview Acculturation and language Socioeconomic status Student and client factors Counselor and examiner factors

Bias in Assessment Types of bias include: Bias refers to circumstances in which construct irrelevant factors affect the performance of a group in some systematic fashion. Types of bias include: Content bias Internal structure bias Predictive bias

Bias in Assessment Continued… Interpreting test scores with caution means that we do not know the consequences of interpreting a score for a given individual with diverse characteristics. Various suggestions are offered for ensuring fairness in assessment. Various organizations have put forth standards for multicultural assessment.