PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Madaus, George
TI  - A Technological and Historical Consideration of Equity Issues Associated with Proposals to Change the Nation's Testing Policy
AID  - 10.17763/haer.64.1.4q87663r0j76rwv1
DP  - 1994 Apr 01
TA  - Harvard Educational Review
PG  - 76--96
VI  - 64
IP  - 1
4099  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/64/1/76.short
4100  - http://harvardeducationalreview.org/content/64/1/76.full
SO  - herp1994 Apr 01; 64
AB  - In this article, George Madaus considers the current debate on national assessment from two perspectives: technological and historical. Highlighting educators' tendency to embrace new technologies such as alternative assessments without giving thorough consideration to the foundation on which they are based, Madaus cautions that testing as a technology has the potential to perpetuate current social and educational inequalities. In a brief historical overview, the author points out that several tests originally designed with well-intended goals have over time become a means for excluding minority groups from equal educational opportunities.