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Culturally Responsive Assessment: Provisional Principles

Author(s):
Walker, Michael; Olivera-Aguilar, Margarita; Lehman, Blair A.; Laitusis, Cara Cahalan; Guzman-Orth, Danielle; Gholson, Melissa L.
Publication Year:
2023
Report Number:
RR-23-11
Source:
ETS Research Report
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
26
Subject/Key Words:
Culturally Responsive Assessments, Large-Scale Assessment, Summative Assessment, Cultural Test Bias, Test Fairness, Assessment Design

Abstract

Recent criticisms of large-scale summative assessments have claimed that the assessments are biased against historically excluded groups because of the assessments' lack of cultural representation. Accompanying these criticisms is a call for more culturally responsive assessments -- assessments that take into account the background characteristics of the students; their beliefs, values, and ethics; their lived experiences; and everything that affects how they learn and behave and communicate. In this paper, we present provisional principles, based on a review of research, that we deem necessary for fostering cultural responsiveness in assessment. We believe the application of these principles can address the criticisms of current assessments.

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