Guidelines for reducing bias in nursing examinations

As our nation becomes more diversified, many schools of nursing strive to improve the recruitment and retention of English as a Second Language (ESL) and minority nursing students. An important aspect of this commitment to diversity is the reduction of biased items in nursing examinations, with the goal of making the evaluation process fair for all students. The author defines test and item bias, provides examples of biased items, and presents specific guidelines for decreasing item bias in teacher-made nursing examinations. A discussion of the related topic of whether ESL students should be given extended testing time is included.