Validity and accountability in high-stakes testing

In this article, the authors argue that the cultures of accountability and validity are at odds. Calls for accountability arise from the polls, or pol itical community. Validity is the standard of quality that professionals pl ace on tests. When the polls demands that tests serve high-stakes accountab ility functions, professional testing standards often are compromised. In a ccountability contexts, test results decide which students are retained in grade, held back from graduation, and assigned to tracks or special classif ications. Yet, empirical evidence suggests that the use of flawed indicator s produces unreliable and unrepresentative inferences and decisions. High-s takes testing produces teaching and testing practices that lead to inflated test scores and further disadvantage already disadvantaged students.