Premium
Using Multiple Measures to Address Perverse Incentives and Score Inflation
Author(s) -
Koretz Daniel
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
educational measurement: issues and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.158
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1745-3992
pISSN - 0731-1745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3992.2003.tb00124.x
Subject(s) - incentive , accountability , inflation (cosmology) , actuarial science , measure (data warehouse) , test (biology) , grade inflation , economics , psychology , computer science , microeconomics , political science , higher education , economic growth , data mining , paleontology , physics , biology , theoretical physics , law
The principle that important decisions should not be based on a single measure is axiomatic, if widelu ignored in practice. The traditional rationale is the risk of incorrect decisions from incomplete and error‐prone data. The current high‐stakes uses of test scores increase the need for multiple measures for two distinct reasons: the risk of score inflation and the potential for perverse incentives for educators and students. Addressing these two issues may require focusing accountability on measures of schooling as well as a much wider range of measures of student outcomes. The difficulties of pursuing this approach are described, and some possible directions for research and development are noted.