Scientific excellence is the foundation of high-quality assessments, but it is public trust that turns assessments into the instruments of policy, equity, and learning. In a cyclical manner, well-designed assessments achieve their full impact only when they also help strengthen the very trust on which their legitimacy depends.

As Mrs. Abbaszade, Chairperson of the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan, once shared, “because of public trust, we can sometimes sacrifice our excellence in assessment through transparency.” For example, test-takers were allowed to take their paper-based exam materials, often the best items of the year, home as evidence of objectivity, which increased the level of public trust into the organization’s operations in the beginning of the journey. Similarly, in a dialogue with Psychometrics Senior Professor Chilana from IBPS Mumbai, it was emphasized that “The true skill in sustaining assessments lies in balancing scientific excellence with public trust throughout the development trajectory.”, that may even start with sharing the exam materials as in the case of Azerbaijan.

This article builds on these dialogues of conformity, positioning public-trust-centered design as a guiding principle for the entire assessment cycle.

Defining Public Trust: Driving Forces and Fragalities 

Public trust at times looks like a hidden lighthouse of the assessment system, guiding how assessments and their results are accepted as reflections of legitimacy and impact.

Locating Trust Within Design Traditions

To place this within a broader design perspective, it is useful to compare public-trust-centered design with other recognized approaches:

This comparison shows that while Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking have shaped much of modern innovation, Public-Trust-Centered Design adapts these principles to the realities of educational assessment. Understanding these design traditions helps clarify how public trust functions within assessments, not as something granted instantly, but as confidence that is built and reinforced over time through quality, value, and institutional reputation.

From Quality to Confidence: How Trust is Cultivated

Developing the concept in the practical context, public trust can be understood as people’s level of confidence in a system, whether in institutions or products. In the field of assessment, organizations typically begin by building trust through the quality of their assessment products. Over time, the consistent delivery of these products and related services transforms that confidence into institutional trust, which functions much like a brand. Exams or assessments do not earn public trust immediately; rather, it develops as a direct result of demonstrated quality that delivers value, or through the strength of the institution’s reputation.

One way to demonstrate public trust is through openness in assessment procedures and outcomes, from how items are authored to how results are reported with indicators of learning outcomes, whether at the individual or institutional level. Secondly, trust grows when the quality of assessments delivers clear value to learners, educators, and policymakers. Additionally, public trust is further reinforced through the involvement of external quality assurance, with findings and reports made publicly available. Furthermore, public trust is sustained by the consistent adherence to the values of public administration or the guiding principles of the assessment organization, an excellence in service provision that is fragile and difficult to maintain. Finally, public trust is shaped by intellectuals who influence public opinion and evaluate assessment organizations through research by higher education institutions, drawing on publicly shared blueprints, standard-setting documents, or advanced search tools that reference research findings.

The Delicate Nature of Trust

Public trust in assessment systems is highly fragile, particularly during peak periods of high-stakes testing. A single scoring error, a public allegation of bias, or a delay in communication can quickly undermine confidence that has taken years to build. Such cases spread fast through social media and public debate in today’s world of instant information flow and quick gratification, often outpacing official statements and making the restoration of trust even more demanding. This fragile state of the public trust reminds of the need for assessment organizations to process trust not as a one-time accomplishment but as a continuous consideration, carefully kept in mind through openness, responsiveness, and consistent demonstration of quality with value in every aspect of the work cycle. In summary, public trust is both the most powerful asset and the most delicate challenge of educational assessment, earned through quality and value and integrated into the design of the assessment cycle.

Building and Sustaining Trust: Public-Trust-Centered Design in the Assessment Cycle

Building and sustaining public trust requires a focus in the entire assessment cycle, as a principle to be incorporated from the very beginning. Therefore, a public-trust-centered design approach guarantees that each phase: design, development, and implementation, supports confidence building measures in the assessment system.

Design is the starting point for trust-building, especially when assessment frameworks and blueprints are co-created with key stakeholders within the item development phase. Sharing the assessment framework and blueprint presents openness and inclusivity, supporting both the technical quality of the assessments and their acceptance among those most affected.

Development is where trust is consolidated through inclusive piloting and fairness checks. By trialing items across diverse groups of learners, examining potential cultural or linguistic bias, and applying fairness reviews, organizations demonstrate a commitment to equity and objectivity. Sharing the outcomes of these checks, even in summary form, further strengthens confidence in the system’s credibility.

Implementation is the testing field of trust put into practice, with principles of clarity, consistency, and visibility implemented through the secure handling of test materials, well-designed administration protocols, and transparent communication with test venues and candidates. In this phase, trust comes with welcoming accessibility for all to have a fair opportunity to demonstrate their true potential and prevent any public disagreement at a later stage.

In summary, integrating public-trust-centered design into each phase of the assessment cycle transforms trust from an abstractual aspiration into a continuous practice that glues together scientific excellence and societal confidence.

Balancing Excellence and Trust

In practice, balancing excellence and trust requires translating complex psychometric concepts into communication language that educators, learners, and policymakers can understand. For example, reliability and validity needs to be translated in the communication as fairness and relevance, and standard-setting not as a technical exercise but as a commitment to equity. When assessment organizations communicate not only low-order decisions such as what steps are taken, but also high-order decisions explaining why and how those steps are made in their daily interactions with the public, it creates hope for bridging the widening gap between technical expertise and public perception. Ultimately, it is through a public-trust-centered design that excellence and trust are not competing but act as complementary forces, together guaranteeing that assessment systems are both technically sound and socially legitimate.

Conclusion: Trust as a Design Principle

In this article, the focus was on public trust as a design principle, like the cherry on top of the cake of excellence, which reveals the often-hidden advantages of placing trust at the center of the design process, building its momentum and sustaining its presence throughout every stage of the assessment cycle with openness, dialogue, and respect for those affected. By treating trust as a principle to design for, rather than a byproduct to hope for, assessment organizations can make sure their work is both scientifically excellent and publicly legitimate, securing their role as fair and reliable instruments of policy, equity, and learning.

Looking ahead with public-trust-centered design, assessments must not only meet technical standards but also be guided by trust at the center, not as a post-factum risk prevention measure, but as a foundational principle. Sharing frameworks and results transparently and interactively, involving communities in decision-making through publicly accessible platforms, and responding quickly and holistically to concerns are all guided by this design principle and are already integral to modern assessment practices, and this has been a kind reminder of this article moving forward.

About the Author

Vali Huseyn is an educational assessment expert and quality auditor, recognized for promoting excellence and reform-driven scaling in assessment organizations. He mentors edtech & assessment firms on reform-aligned scaling by promoting measurement excellence, drawing on his field expertise, government experience, and regional network.

He holds a master degree in educational policy from Boston University (USA) and Diploma of Educational Assessment from Durham University (UK). Vali has supported national reforms in Azerbaijan and, through his consultancy with AQA Global Assessment Services, works with Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic to align assessment systems with international benchmarks such as CEFR, PISA, and the UIS technical criteria. He also works as a quality auditor in partnership with RCEC, most recently with CENEVAL in Mexico. Fluent in Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkish, and English, he brings a deep contextual understanding to cross-country projects.