The respondents were provided with a list of best practices and asked to select the ones that their program followed. The two practices that received the highest ranking were directly related to protecting the student. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents reported that their assessments are conducted in a non-threatening manner, which is a way of protecting the student's emotional well-being. The importance the student's emotional well-being. The importance of non-threatening assessments was a recurring theme, woven into the responses to open ended questions throughout the survey. Another respondent wrote:
I think the most critical issue is that we need to value the students and not place them in assessment situations where they are at risk of suffering humiliation...I think that nationally, we need to address this issue, because I am aware that some institutions simply test the students using the CAT test and the results are either acceptance into a program or rejection.
For many respondents, the testing environment is one of the most critical issues that need to be addressed at the national level.
Eighty-four percent of respondents indicated that the student is ensured of confidentiality, which is a way of protecting his/her privacy. While the respondents are cognizant of the his/her privacy. While the respondents are cognizant of the importance of confidentiality, only 47 percent indicated that their program has a written policy to ensure confidentiality when the assessment protocol is transferred to another program. According to the Principles for Fair Student Assessment Practices for Education in Canada (1993), "transfer of assessment information from one school to another should be guided by a written policy with stringent provisions to ensure the maintenance of confidentiality. (p. 13)
The practice of sharing assessment results with the student received the third highest ranking (82 percent). The respondents provided details about the type of information that is shared with the student after the initial assessment (see Figure 5).