Legally Defensible Assessment Translation

How to ensure that translated assessments stand up to legal challenges.

Assessments are often translated into one or more languages in order to reach new audiences at home or abroad. Translating assessments isn’t simply a matter of converting text from one language to another though. It requires a careful and deliberate process to ensure that the translated assessments are fair, accurate, equivalent and legally defensible, all at once.

Defining Legal Defensibility

Legal defensibility for assessment translation refers to the ability of an assessment to withstand legal scrutiny and defend its psychometric properties when used in a multilingual setting. This includes ensuring that the translated assessments:

• Maintain conceptual and contextual equivalence: The translated items should convey the same meaning and intent as the original items, taking into account the cultural and contextual nuances of the target language.
• Preserve psychometric properties: The translated assessments should maintain the same reliability, validity and fairness as the original assessments. This ensures that the translated assessments effectively capture the intended constructs and accurately measure the knowledge and abilities of the target population, just as the original assessments do.
• Comply with legal and ethical standards: The translated assessments should adhere to all relevant legal and ethical standards for assessment, such as the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity.

Legal Challenges to Assessment Translation

Failure to achieve legal defensibility can lead to legal challenges of translated assessments, such as complaints of discrimination or unfair testing practices. In such cases, the burden of proof rests on the test developer to demonstrate that the translated assessments are psychometrically sound and fair to all test takers.

In one notable case, a test developer was sued for unfair testing practices after translating an assessment into Spanish. The translated assessment used different weights for different items, which resulted in lower scores for Spanish-speaking test takers compared to their English-speaking counterparts. The court found that the test developer had failed to conduct proper cultural sensitivity testing and had not adequately adapted the assessment for Spanish speakers.

Key Steps in Achieving Legal Defensibility

To achieve legal defensibility for assessment translation, the following steps should be taken, at a minimum:

• Establish a clear translation plan: Develop a comprehensive translation plan that outlines the scope of the translation project, translation methodology and quality assurance procedures.
• Select qualified translators: Choose translators who are fluent in both the source and target languages and have expertise in the subject matter of the assessment.
• Use an expert review process: Implement an expert review process to ensure that the translations are accurate, equivalent and free of cultural bias. The review process should involve qualified linguists who have proven expertise in the assessment domain.
• Maintain documentation: Keep detailed records of the translation process, including the translation plan, translator qualifications, validation methods and any modifications made to the translated assessments.

Your Guide to Legally Defensible Assessment Translation

Legally defensible assessment translation is a complex and critical process that requires careful planning, expert involvement and adherence to established best practices. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. By partnering with Responsive Translation, test developers can ensure that their translated assessments are legally defensible, protecting the rights of all test takers and minimizing the risk of legal challenges.

Responsive Translation specializes in supporting test developers and test publishing companies. Our services include translation, adaptation, validation and review of assessments in more than 80 languages, as well as foreign-language item development and authentic passage review. To learn more, please get in touch at [email protected] or 1-800-872-6752 (+1-212-818-1102 outside the US).