Employment testing must jump through a large number of administrative and legal hoops. In Ohio at least, one of the more unique issues encountered in the public sector is that employment tests can be treated as public records. This leads to a number of challenges in terms of protecting the integrity and long term usefulness of tests. In that regard, the Ohio Supreme Court is currently hearing an interesting and related case involving school testing.
The question before the court is whether standardized tests are public records open to review. The case was brought by a science teacher in Cincinnati who would like access to copies of the tests. His argument is that unless he can review the tests, he cannot know whether they were designed properly and reflected actual learning. The Cincinnati School District is arguing for an exemption to the public records law under the trade secrets rule.
It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court rules and to see whether there are any implications for public sector employment testing.
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