Systemic Racism and Educational Measurement provides a theoretical and historical reckoning with racism and oppression produced through educational measurement and research methodology. As scholars and professionals in the testing, measurement, and assessment of human learning and performance work to exorcise race sciences, white supremacy, and other injustices from the field’s research and practice, new insights are needed into their root causes. This book is the first to posit that the theory of the White Racial Frame was and continues to be applied to the foundations, process, dissemination, and use of educational measurement, leading to instruments, findings, and decisions that perpetuate the racialized social structure of our nation. Even among well-meaning stakeholders who aim to improve humanity and address inequities, the White Racial Frame shapes the field’s research questions, the methods utilized, the data valued, the interpretations made, and the language used throughout. Students and scholars of educational measurement, testing, and psychometrics will find invaluable clarifications of terminology, concepts, and theories integral to understanding systemic barriers in the field; explications of educational measurement’s core purposes and its influence by the White Racial Frame; and a series of alternate frames, theories, and epistemologies intended to guide educational measurement toward anti-racism and increased fairness.
Author(s): Michael Russell
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 413
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
Notes on Terminology, Phrasing, and Conventions
Notes
References
Acknowledgements
Key Terms and Definitions
Introduction
The White Racial Frame: A Brief Introduction
Power and Apparatus of Oppression
Educational Measurement as Apparatus of Oppression
Directing Focus on Racism Rather than on Racist(s)
Educational Measurement: My Working Definition
Structure of This Book
Notes
References
Part I: Race, Racism, and the White Racial Frame
Notes
References
Chapter 1: The Origins of Race
The Origins of Race
Race and the Enlightenment
Flies in the Ointment
Buffon and the Degeneration Hypothesis
Genesis of the Human Race
The Haunting of Blumenbach’s Skulls
The Supremacy of the White Caucasian Race
Notes
References
Chapter 2: Molding Race in the United States
Molding Race in the United States
Molding Race in the 17th Century
Molding Status as a Free and Whole Human
Molding Race through Sexual Relations and a Child’s Status
Social Changes Following U.S. Independence
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
The One-Drop Rule
The U.S. Census
Molding the Social Construction of Race
Notes
References
Chapter 3: The Systemic Structure of Racism
Building a Foundation for Understanding Racism as Systemic
Race
Racialization, Racial Formation, and Racial Projects
Racialized Social System
Racialism, Racialist, and Racist
Race versus Ethnicity
Theories of Racism
Biological Racism
Cultural Assimilation as Racism
Individual Racism
Institutional Racism
Structural Racism
Social Structuring of the United States
Structuring of Social Systems and Physical Spaces
Interactions Among Institutions
Systemic Racism
Notes
References
Chapter 4: The White Racial Frame
Molding Racialism
Individualism and Individual Merit
Social Darwinism and Genetic Determinism
Scientific Discovery
Utilitarian View of Justice
The White Racial Frame and Systemic Racism
Notes
References
Part II: The White Racial Frame and the Development of Educational Measurement
Background: Francis Galton, Henry Goddard, and the Eugenics Record Office
Chapter 5: Heredity and Family Traits
Family Studies
Francis Galton’s Hereditary Genius
The Jukes
Henry Goddard and The Kallikak Family
The White Racial Frame and Family Studies
Notes
References
Chapter 6: The Birth of Tests of Mental Ability
Precursors to Intelligence Testing
Skulls and Mental Functions
Psychophysics and Mental Abilities
Galton and the Anthropometric Laboratory
Standardized Tests of Mental Ability
Importing Binet-Simon to the United States
Intelligence Testing and the Army Alpha
Impact of Intelligence Testing on Educational Measurement
The Influence of the White Racial Frame
Notes
References
Chapter 7: The Rise of Educational Testing and Test Bias
College Admissions Testing
Bias in Mental Measures
The Bias of Test Content
Test Norm Bias
Biased Interpretation of Test Scores
The Influence of the White Racial Frame
Notes
References
Chapter 8: The Rise of Statistics in Educational Measurement
A Brief History of the Early Development of Statistics
Galton’s Statistical Contributions
Karl Pearson and Ronald Fisher
Charles Spearman
Influences on Educational Measurement
Differences Among Populations
Regression Effects and Deficit Narratives
Opportunity Costs
Silencing Bayesian Statistics
The Replication Crisis
Notes
References
Chapter 9: Educational Measurement as Apparatus for Systemic Racism
Connecting Racial Projects and Apparatus of Oppression
Educational Measurement and Systemic Racism
Individual Productions as Apparatus for Systemic Racism
Test Development Practices as Apparatus for Systemic Racism
Admission, Graduation, and Scholarship Decisions as Apparatus for Systemic Racism
Notes
References
Part III: Alternate Lenses for Educational Measurement
Notes
References
Chapter 10: Critical Theory
The Idea of Critical Theory
Critique of Positivism
Historicity
Criticality
Reflexivity
Ideology
Mass Media
Implications of Critical Theory for Educational Measurement
Notes
References
Chapter 11: Critical Race Theory and QuantCrit
Critical Race Theory
Tenets of Critical Race Theory
Interest Convergence
Storytelling and Counter-Storytelling
The Emergence of QuantCrit
Tenets of QuantCrit
Centrality of Racism and Quantification
Critically Evaluating Categories
Using Numbers for Social Justice
Numbers Are Not Neutral—Voice Is Vital
The “Effect of Race” Problem
Implications of QuantCrit for Educational Measurement
Notes
References
Chapter 12: Intersectionality Theory
Multiplicity and Intersectionality
Intersectionality as a Provisional Concept
Intersectionality as a Critical Theory
Identity and Social Position
Intersectionality Metaphors
Intersectionality as a Heuristic Device
Concerns About Intersectionality as Heuristic
Practical Challenges for Quantitative Research
Reliance on Identity Categories
Limitations of Current Statistical Methods
Additive Models
Interaction Models
Multilevel Models
Implications for Educational Measurement
Notes
References
Chapter 13: Educational Measurement and the Pursuit of Racial Justice
Utilitarianism and Educational Measurement
Differential Item Functioning
Context-Neutral Item Content
Mean Effect
Rawls’s Justice as Fairness
Differential Item Functioning
Context-Neutral Item Content
Mean Effect
Mills’s Rectificatory Justice
Differential Item Functioning
Context-Neutral Content
Mean Effect
Justice Through Measurement
Notes
References
Chapter 14: Forging a Path Toward Anti-Racism in Educational Measurement
Reflection
“Race” as a Variable in Analyses
Item Bias
College Admission Test Use
Research
Socially Constructed Positions
Item Bias
College Admission Decisions
Analytic Methods
Diverse Representation
A Final Thought
Notes
References
Index
