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Does Students' Gender, Citizenship, or Verbal Ability Affect Fairness of Portfolio-Based Promotion Decisions? Results From One Medical School.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21512368     Owner:  NLM     Status:  Publisher    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
PURPOSE: Measurement experts use four criteria to examine the fairness of tests: (1) equitable treatment for examinees, (2) equal outcomes for subgroups, (3) absence of bias, and (4) equal opportunity to learn. These criteria apply to portfolios just as they do to other assessments. This report examines the fairness of portfolio-based promotion decisions for medical students at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. METHOD: Participants were 182 first-year medical students (97 men, 85 women) from six class cohorts (2004-2009). Chi-square statistics with Yates continuity correction were used to compare overall promotion decisions to students' gender, self-reports of language fluency, and MCAT Writing Sample score. The Cramér V statistic served as an effect size index. Post hoc power analyses identified the minimum sample size to obtain acceptable power. RESULTS: Approximately 85% of students were promoted to Year 2 of the program. Gender, U.S. citizenship, language fluency, and MCAT Writing Sample score were not significantly related to overall promotion decisions. Effect sizes were small (≤0.15) for all contingency tables, suggesting weak associations between overall promotion decisions and students' group characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Examining fairness, although challenging, is essential to maintain professional standards and avoid potential liability. Preliminary evidence in this study suggests that students' background characteristics and verbal abilities were not strongly related to portfolio-based promotion decisions. Schools should monitor processes that may affect fairness. This study reports on just one aspect of fairness. More research is needed to evaluate other dimensions of fairness.
Authors:
S Beth Bierer; Elaine F Dannefer
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Publication Detail:
Type:  JOURNAL ARTICLE     Date:  2011-4-20
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges     Volume:  -     ISSN:  1938-808X     ISO Abbreviation:  -     Publication Date:  2011 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-4-22     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904605     Medline TA:  Acad Med     Country:  -    
Other Details:
Languages:  ENG     Pagination:  -     Citation Subset:  -    
Affiliation:
Dr. Bierer is director of evaluation and assistant professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Dannefer is director of assessment and educational research and professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
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