Equating test scores is an important issue in large scale testing. Almost all standardized tests have several forms which vary in difficulty. New forms are written and added every year. When the items in different forms of a test vary in difficulty, direct comparison of test-takers who have taken different forms and are at the same ability level is not possible, hence, the issue of test fairness arises. In such situations there is a need for equating test scores so that standards can be maintained from year to year. That is, there is the need to adjust the scores for the difficulty of the test forms and report a scaled score that is comparable across all forms of the test. In this study, two forms of a reading comprehension test were equated and the pass/fail decision consistency was investigated under two conditions of with and without equating. Concurrent common item equating with one parameter Items Response Model (IRT) was used to equate the two test forms. Results showed that the lack of equating leads to unfair pass/fail decisions. The implications for high-stakes large scale testing are thus discussed.

The indefinite nature of test fairness and different interpretations and definitions of the concept have stirred a lot of controversy over the years, necessitating the reconceptualization of the concept. On this basis, this study aimed to explore the empirical validity of Kunnan’s (2008) Test Fairness Framework (TFF) and revisit the established test fairness conceptualization following the principles of grounded theory. To this end, 10 university lecturers of TEFL, 20 high school English language teachers, 15 PhD students in TEFL, and 15 MA students in TEFL participated in open-ended and semi- structured interviews. Following grounded theory rubrics, the researchers read, codified, and analyzed the obtained interview data. Simultaneously, memos were written, comparisons were drawn, possibilities were seen, and robust categories were developed through theoretical sampling. This process continued iteratively until the categories saturated. Next, the categories were juxtaposed and compared to see how they fit together and finally several major categories emerged accordingly. The opinions were diagrammed and a visual image of the categories and their relevant scope, power, and associations were represented to construct a theoretical logic. The new hierarchy of test fairness categories became discernible as the interviewees named distinct characteristics for a fair test. The identified levels of the new conceptualization of test fairness were entitled validity, construction and structure, administration, scoring, reporting, decision-making, consequences, security, explicitness, accountability, equality, and rights. The need for advancing context-specific and locally agreed-upon equity principles as driven by the impossibility of the fulfillment of the equality principle in the real world conditions is an important finding of this study with concrete implications for both theory and practice in the field.

The widespread integration of technology into education has led to significant reliance on online assessment. Despite its prevalence, concerns about the fairness of online assessment persist. While this issue has attracted considerable attention, empirical investigations, particularly those exploring teachers' perceptions of fairness in online assessment, remain scarce. Additionally, existing frameworks for assessing fairness in an online context seem inadequate. To address these concerns, the current study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions of fairness in online assessment. Moreover, the study aimed to develop a valid scale to measure the fairness of assessment practices in the online context. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study conducted a structured interview with 20 EFL teachers, and the resulting data were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. Ten major codes or themes derived from the data were access, knowledge, personal factors, clear criteria, item quality, safety, policies, teaching quality, assessment type, and administration. The codes were subsequently classified into three overarching categories: student level, teacher level, and organizational level. Then, based on the interview findings and the existing literature, an online assessment fairness questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 100 EFL teachers, whose results verified five core factors of online assessment fairness. The study's findings offer a novel understanding of teachers' perspectives on the fairness of online assessment and the factors that contribute to its fairness or unfairness.