Professional Development & Ethics Flashcards

A test administrator who is also a teacher learns that their students will take the ACT at their school site. What is the most ethical course of action?

Answer: Disclose the relationship to the testing coordinator and request reassignment or recusal

Transparency about potential conflicts allows supervisors to make proper reassignment decisions that protect test fairness.

Which of the following is a key reason why ACT prohibits administrators from coaching students during testing, even with good intentions?

Answer: It creates systematic score inflation that undermines the validity of comparative results

Any coaching advantage, however well-intentioned, distorts score comparisons and undermines the ACT's ability to measure college readiness accurately.

What does ACT's policy on 'informed consent' primarily require of test administrators?

Answer: That test takers understand how their data will be used and have agreed to participation terms

Informed consent means students have been told how their registration data and scores will be collected and used before they agree to test.

An administrator feels pressured by a school principal to report inflated pass rates for the school's ACT testing session. The ethical response is to:

Answer: Refuse and accurately report all results, escalating to ACT if necessary

Accuracy in reporting is a non-negotiable ethical obligation; administrators must resist institutional pressure to falsify results.

Why is it important for ACT administrators to treat all students with consistent respect and neutrality regardless of background?

Answer: To ensure that bias does not affect administration in ways that create unequal testing experiences

Consistent neutral treatment is essential to test fairness, ensuring that no student receives inferior administration due to implicit or explicit bias.

Which scenario represents an appropriate use of an administrator's professional discretion during an ACT exam?

Answer: Choosing to seat a disruptive student separately to minimize impact on others per ACT guidelines

Seating a disruptive student separately is an ACT-sanctioned intervention that protects other test takers without altering standardized conditions.

What is the ethical implication of an administrator failing to report a known testing irregularity to protect a colleague?

Answer: It makes the administrator complicit in the violation and compromises the integrity of the entire administration

Concealing irregularities, even to protect a colleague, makes the administrator a party to the breach and undermines the entire system of test integrity.