Ethical Concerns In Assessment Paper

Currently, standardized tests do not improve the education of students in America. Standardized testing is not an accurate measure of student’s knowledge because they are designed to test an extremely broad amount of students who do not have the same educational background. This makes it incredibly difficult to test students across the world on the same level and expect their scores to reflect their education. Standardized testing, by definition, is any test containing the same questions that is administered to a vast group of people for the purpose of comparing different student’s test scores. This issue is important because it affects the entire academic community, positively and negatively. Therefore, all teachers, students, school staff, and test administrators have some involvement with standardized testing. The vast majority of people in America have taken a standardized test sometime in their life, which makes these tests vital in the

Psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and professional knowledge of behaviour and people's understanding of themselves and others and to the use of such knowledge to improve the condition of individuals, organisations, and society (APA, 2010). The PSI preamble (2010) states “the authority of psychologists derives from the scientific methods of investigation on which their knowledge is based, and the ethics which govern all their professional activity. They accept that codes of ethics are necessary to protect the interest of clients and prevent misuse of psychological knowledge. The Ethics Code provides a common set of principles and standards upon which psychologists build their professional and scientific work. The following is a rough and general summary of the principles that are addressed by the APA, PSI and BPS;

Standardized tests are exams that are supposed to measure a child’s academic knowledge but have long been a controversial subject of discussion. Although it is one method to see how a child is performing, is it the best method? Standardized testing can be biased or unfair, inhibit both the teacher’s and the children’s creativity and flexibility, affect funding for schools, cause untested subjects to be eliminated from the curriculum, and cause anxiety for children and teachers.

We are going to explore the world of ethical issues in psychology. As in any medical or mental health fields there are rules we all must follow as professionals. In this essay today we will be exploring a case study where we have a young lady who has been stricken by a mental disability. We will be looking at the facts in which her disability was handled by a professional in the field of psychology. We also will be discussing the rights and wrongs that are presented in her case study. We will also be discussing the APA ethical codes and gain a clearer understanding of where some things went wrong and why shall we begin.

Standardized testing has become a controversial topic in recent years, parents, students, teachers, principals and almost anyone who has a relationship with education is affected by this topic. People are either for or against standardized testing, some believe it is the only fair way to compare students others believe that the tests are too greatly stressed in school and are a nuisance to education. Standardized tests are stressed greatly, students learn testing material all year not focusing on anything else deemed unimportant by the test makers. Every student has the same amount of time and question on tests; they also are tested on the same subjects which the test makers believe are most important for children to learn. Standardized tests are used for many things such as ranking students on a national basis and government funding for schools.

Professional school counselors are required to perform their job duties according ethical standards set by the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). Although, it is best practice to abide by the ethical standards established, one should also adhere to legal guidelines and school district policies. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) ethical standards, school counselors make use of computer technology or other measures such as surveys and/or questionnaires to develop, implement,

The APA ethical guidelines help to ensure that all psychological research maintains the integrity that it does not do harm or conflicts with the majority of the human populations moral ethical codes. However, in some situations the APA ethical guidelines must be viewed as just that: guidelines. If a study has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole and does not result in the permanent or irreparable harm to a human being then some guidelines must be permitted to be stretched or even broken in the interest of human advancement and scientific progression. After all the goal and responsibility of a psychologist is to enhance our understanding of human behavior as well as to find ways to use this information to better society and humanity

Over the past decade, several researchers have released evidence proving a bias in standardized testing towards minority students. In this paper I will argue in favor of those supporting the idea of a bias in standardized testing. A bias in standardized testing would not only effect the students it is biased against, but the public and other students as well. This is why it is important that we take the time to educate ourselves with the evidence provided. In order to make a decision as to whether or not standardized testing is indeed biased, we must educate ourselves on the amount of test preparation the test requires, as well as how it is created.

Healthcare professionals are faced with making multi-faceted decisions on a daily basis. These decisions are not just limited to clinical matters, but they include the total patient care experience. Because of emerging healthcare trends and complex health law and ethics, it is imperative that healthcare administrators have a professional organization that they can belong to. “The

An ongoing issue in the classroom that has gotten a lot of attention in the past couple of years is the cultural bias in standardized testing. On the surface, there are many issues with standardized testing; it stifles creativity, causes teachers to teach to the test, ignores the needs of individual students, and creates stress and anxiety for students. Going beyond this, these tests are unavoidably biased by social-class, ethnic, gender and other cultural differences. First off, students have many different experiences outside of the classroom and their educational potential is largely influenced by these experiences and circumstances. By conducting single test measurements in a uniform, high-stakes method, the educational system is jeopardizing

Today, it can be observed that society has shifted education drastically from the time schools were constituted, to now. Throughout history, schools have gone from private, where only the elite can attend, to public schools where virtually anyone can attend. One of the factors that goes along with education is standardized testing. Frederick J. Kelly, father of the standardized test, once said, “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” Not only has this shift occurred within education itself, but it has occurred within the testing concepts found within standardized testing so much so that the founder of these tests has chosen to give up on it.

In the mental health profession of counseling, therapy, psychology, psychiatric and social services ethical dilemmas are faced primarily on a daily basis. Being that mental health professionals are working with clients who are often fragile and vulnerable, they must develop an intense awareness of ethical issues. On the other hand, mental health professionals would never intentionally harm their clients, students or colleagues and others whom they work with. Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough to ensure that wrong doings will not occur and mental health professionals have no choice but to make ethically determined decisions. Depending upon the experience and expertise of the professional determines the outcome of the ethical

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – Adolescent (MMPI-A) was created several years after the standardized Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to specifically assess adolescents between the ages of 14 -18 years (Handel et all, 2011). The MMPI-A is a 478 item testing measurement used to assess personality. It is a self-report, true-false testing measure that has 10 clinical scales, 15 content scales, and 5 validity scales (Cross, Cassady, Dixon & Adams, 2008). Seventy of the original MMPI items were removed or altered to create the MMPI-A (Archer & Gordon, 1994). It is much more difficult to determine abnormal personality concerns in adolescents due to their higher rates of endorsing “pathological” items on the

The tests require children to draw from knowledge they learn or experiences they’ve had outside of school, which is different for each student. According to W. James Popham, an expert on educational assessment, “If children come from advantaged families and stimulus-rich environments, then they are more apt to succeed on items in standardized achievement test items than will other children whose environments don't mesh as well with what the tests measure”. The biases in the development and administration of standardized tests often contribute to the achievement gap between whites and minorities. As a result students from low-income and minority families, English Language Learners, and students with disabilities are more likely to be held back a grade, be placed in unnecessary remedial education programs, and be denied a diploma (Reese, pg. 1). Another problem with standardized testing is the tests do not accurately measure teacher quality. Standardized tests are often used to evaluate teachers and schools staff based on their student’s scores. However, standardized tests are limited indicators of student knowledge and progress; therefore they do not reflect the wide range of knowledge and skills a teacher covers in the classroom. It is unfair to isolate the impact of one individual because teaching is a collaborative and developmental process (FairTest, pg. 1). People think that if standardized test scores are high they can label teachers as

(Moore). Since standardized test can’t provide a clear picture for a student, these test shouldn’t really make the decisions of a student’s educational future. If retention helps at all, it does so only when students are supported by innovative learning strategies. Decisions to deny promotion should not be based on a single test. (Nina and Sol Hurwitz). Standardized test also can effects students emotionally. Although standardized tests are somewhat limited in measuring skill development, they also are ineffective in ascertaining student attitudes and behavior changes (Travis 1996). (Frederick M. Hess). The U.S.’s present goal is to raise standards, they look forward to standardized test to complete this goal. High-Stake tests can be a powerful tool for raising standards for at-risk students, but only if resources are reallocated to schools that serve them and the testing program must be held accountable for ensuring that the tests are reliable, fair, and free of cultural bias. (Nina and Sol Hurwitz). In order for the standardized test to actually become beneficial to public education students have to excel at these test and these test have to be well designed for the students, keep it from being bias towards anything. Students and the test result that are received by them are what keep standardized test