§ 341-A — Standardized testing; reports

§ 341-a. Standardized testing; reports. 1. Definitions. As used in\nthis section and section three hundred forty-six-a of this article, the\nfollowing words and terms shall have the following meanings:\n a. "Test" means a standardized test as defined in section three\nhundred forty of this article; provided however, that the test of\nEnglish as a foreign language shall not constitute a test for purposes\nof this section;\n b. "Test subject" means a test subject as defined in section three\nhundred forty of this article.\n 2. Not later than July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, and for\none year thereafter, test agencies shall ask each test subject to report\non the test answer sheet, test registration form, or other appropriate\nmeans all of the following information:\n a. The test subject's race or ethnicity, including the following\ngroups: Black, White, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic or other;\n b. The test subject's gender, expressed as male or female; and\n c. The test subject's linguistic background, expressed as whether\nEnglish was the dominant language of the test subject's household.\n 3. The test agency shall advise all test subjects that they are not\nrequired to provide the information requested under paragraphs a and c\nof subdivision two of this section, that they will not be penalized if\nthey do not provide the information, and that the information provided\nwill be used exclusively for research, recruitment, talent\nidentification and planning purposes.\n 4. a. Not later than September first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine,\nthe test agency shall prepare and file or cause to be filed with the\ncommittee described in section three hundred forty-six-a of this article\na report relating to each test administered and disclosed pursuant to\nsection three hundred forty-two of this article by the test agency in\nNew York between July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight and July\nfirst, nineteen hundred eighty-nine. Such report shall be subject to the\nprovisions of subdivisions two and three of section three hundred\nforty-one of this article.\n b. Each such test report shall show by race or ethnicity, linguistic\nbackground and gender, the mean-scaled scores of test subjects, the\nstandard deviation of scaled scores, and the distribution of scaled\nscores.\n 5. a. Not later than September first, nineteen hundred eighty-nine,\nthe test agency shall prepare and file or cause to be filed with the\ncommittee an item report relating to each question used in calculating\nthe subject's raw score on each test form administered and disclosed\npursuant to section three hundred forty-two of this article in New York\nbetween July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight and July first,\nnineteen hundred eighty-nine. Such report shall be subject to the\nprovisions of subdivisions two and three of section three hundred\nforty-one of this article.\n b. Each such item report shall show for each question used in\ncalculating the test subject's raw score, the item's content area\nspecification, and where disclosed pursuant to section three hundred\nforty-two of this article, information identifying the text of the item,\nand the correct answer-rates and R-biserial correlations for all test\nsubjects, combined and separately by race, ethnicity, gender or\nlinguistic background as reported under subdivision two of this section.\nSuch item report shall also calculate the correct answer rates and\nR-biserial correlations comparing performance by gender and language\ndominance, within race and ethnic subgroups, including language\ndominance by the total gender group. Content area specification shall be\nreported for each exam to indicate area of knowledge, skill or ability\nthat an item purports to measure according to the examination's\nmanufacturer or sponsoring agency. Correct answer-rates shall be\ncalculated by dividing the number of correct answers for a question used\nin calculating the subject's raw score on all test forms administered\nand disclosed pursuant to section three hundred forty-two of this\narticle between July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight and July\nfirst, nineteen hundred eighty-nine by the number of test subjects to\nwhom those test forms were administered. R-biserial correlations shall\nbe calculated by correlating performance on a question used in\ncalculating the subject's raw score on each test form administered\nbetween July first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight and July first,\nnineteen hundred eighty-nine with performance on the tests as shown by\ntotal scores.\n c. The test agency shall not be required to include in such test and\nitem reports under this subdivision and subdivision four of this section\ninformation for any group comprising fewer than one hundred test\nsubjects.\n d. The test report will also include data showing measures of\ndifferential item functioning on individual questions that take into\naccount differences in overall test performance. Data will be provided\nfor test items which contribute to the candidate scores and for which\ndifferential item data are available. Differential item functioning data\nshall be reported for comparative purposes between the following pairs\nof groups: (Black-White), (Hispanic-White), (American Indian-White),\n(Asian-White), (Other-White) and (Male-Female). Documentation as to the\nmethods by which these data have been calculated will accompany the\ndata. Differential item functioning data shall not be required for pairs\nof groups comprising fewer than four hundred test subjects in each\ngroup.\n e. The committee may request additional data, where already available\nand published, from the test agencies to clarify the data previously\nreported pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision four of this\nsection.\n