Reliability, Validity, and Fairness

Reliability, validity, and fairness are three major concepts used to determine efficacy in assessment. At UMD, conversations about these concepts in program assessment can identify ways to increase the value of the results to inform decisions. Explanations are provided in the videos linked within the following definitions.
 

Reliability asks whether the actual metric is constructed sufficiently to produce results that are consistent. 


Validity asks whether the interpretation of the results obtained from the metric used actually inform what is intended to be measured.


Fairness, or absence of bias, asks whether the measurements used or the interpretation of results disadvantage particular groups.