The ETS standards for quality and fairness ensure that all processes involved in the design, development and administration of a test adhere to stringent quality standards.
ETS follows certain guidelines to ensure fairness and objectivity in all steps of assessment design and development.
The ETS Standards for Quality and Fairness comprise quality assurance steps that are prescriptive and exhaustive:
All products and services are developed using planned, documented processes that include advice from diverse specialists, formative and summative evaluations, and an attention to fairness.
All products and services must meet the intended purposes for their intended populations.
Meeting customer needs and maintaining high quality is a major factor in designing, developing, and delivering products and services.
Products and services are designed, developed and administered in ways that treat people equally and fairly, regardless of personal differences.
ETS protects all confidential information.
Appropriate evidence is gathered to ensure that assessments support the intended inferences and actions based on reported assessment results.
Programmes use appropriate procedures for determining and reporting the reliability of assessment results.
Assessments use score-reporting scales that are meaningful.
Assessments are administered in an appropriate manner that provides accurate, comparable and fair measurement for each test taker.
ETS provides recipients with correct, understandable assessment results and appropriate interpretative information.
ETS provides information to the public that allows them to properly evaluate its products and services.
ETS makes test takers aware of their rights and responsibilities, and protects their rights during all phases of the assessment process.
The ETS Fairness Review requires ETS to review all tests and test materials to ensure that they do not include insensitive or offensive material.
