The Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers and the Introspection of Messick’s and Kane’s Approaches to Validity: The Untold Stories.
Abstract
Before the advent of educational standards, the rights and responsibilities of test takers were somehow oblique. This has led to a lot of arguments among educators, test administrators, academics, and others on how test takers should comport themselves and what they are expected to know before, during, and after taking any test and/or examination. It is against this background that this paper examined the rights and responsibilities of test takers and the introspection of Messick and Kane’s approaches to validity: the untold stories. The crux of this paper is that test takers are expected to know and identify their rights and responsibilities in any test they take in order to forestall any misconceptions about the misuse of their test scores. The 1999 and 2014 standards shed more light on the rights and responsibilities of test takers, which stood as a premise upon which many test takers, test administrators, and educators lay their claims on the use and interpretation of test scores. The paper also examined the intersection between test validity theories and the ethical imperatives that govern test use. Drawing upon Messick’s unified theory of validity which situates construct validity as encompassing consequential and value implications, and Kane’s argument-based approach to validation. The paper also explores how these frameworks articulate and support the rights and responsibilities of test takers. The study expatiates how fairness, access, transparency, and accountability are embedded within or marginalized by dominant validity frameworks using the conceptual-analytical method. It also examines the “untold stories” of test takers, most especially those from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds whose experiences reveal the practical challenges of operationalizing fairness in high-stakes testing. This paper contributes immensely to the ongoing conversation on shared vision for equitable and valid educational assessment practices. The paper recommended that the rights of test takers must be recognized, and they must be treated with courtesy and respect, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics, as this would give room for fairness and inclusiveness in the use and interpretation of test scores.
Misuse of Nomenclature in Music Discourses: Reassessing the Roles of Musicians and Musicologists in 21st-Century Scholarship and Culture.
Abstract
This study interrogates the persistent conflation of professional identities between musicians and musicologists in contemporary discourse, illuminating the implications of the misuse of nomenclature within academic and cultural contexts. Grounded in qualitative content analysis, the research critically evaluates published texts, institutional documents, and expert commentaries to demarcate the distinctive roles, epistemic boundaries, and contributions of musicians and musicologists in the 21st century. Drawing from disciplinary identity theory and field theory, the investigation reveals that while musicians primarily engage in creative production and performative interpretation, musicologists operate within a research-oriented framework, generating theoretical, historical, and analytical insights. The findings indicate that terminological ambiguity not only distorts public and academic perceptions but also undermines disciplinary legitimacy and pedagogical clarity. Furthermore, the study highlights trends in hybrid professional identities and the challenges posed by interdisciplinary practices, especially in higher education and arts administration. The article concludes by advocating for a more nuanced nomenclatural paradigm that reflects the functional and epistemological distinctions between practitioners and scholars in music. Such a recalibration holds promise for curriculum reform, scholarly publishing, and professional accreditation, thereby fostering greater coherence in the global musicological landscape and advancing intellectual integrity across domains of music practice and research.
