But humans aren’t perfect no matter how objective we aim to be, we each have our own biases, too-even experts!
Because the Duolingo English Test is taken by people all over the world (in 207 countries and territories and counting!) it's important to ensure that differences in things like cultural background or first language don’t interfere with people’s chances of success.īefore an item is added to the Duolingo English Test item bank, it undergoes a rigorous review process during which our assessment scientists evaluate it for fairness and bias. This isn’t to say that factors like cultural familiarity always lead to measurement bias, but they sometimes can. So Indian test takers may be more likely to say more when describing a picture or responding to a prompt about cricket-even after accounting for differences in English proficiency. If people with the same proficiency level don’t have equal likelihood of performing well on a test, it may suffer from measurement bias: something about the exam may give some test takers an unfair advantage.įor example, Indian test takers, on average, are more familiar with cricket than test takers from a number of European countries. On any language test, factors like age, gender, or nationality have the potential to affect how individuals perform, due to varying degrees of familiarity with cultural norms, subject matter, and vocabulary that make up the test’s “items”-that is, the questions, tasks, and prompts that test takers respond to. But what does that actually mean? Simply put, a fair test gives all test takers an equal chance to demonstrate the skill, ability, or proficiency in what assessment scientists call the “construct” that the test is intended to measure. In this five part series, we take a look back at the enormous amount of research and development that went into reinventing the world of high-stakes testing.
Five years ago, we launched the first high-stakes, digital-first test that could be taken anytime and anywhere in the world, because we saw how technology could radically improve testing for students and institutions.
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