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.
Research in validity suggests that stakeholders' interpretation and use of test results should be an aspect of validity. Claims about the meaningfulness of test score interpretations and consequences of test use should be backed by evidence that stakeholders understand the definition of the construct assessed and the score report information. The current study explored stakeholders' uses and interpretations of the score report of a workplace English language proficiency test, the TOEIC® Listening and Reading (TOEIC L&R) test. Online surveys were administered to TOEIC L&R test takers and institutional and corporate score users in Taiwan to collect data about their uses and interpretations of the test score report. Eleven survey respondents participated in follow-up interviews to further elaborate on their uses of the different score reporting information within the stakeholders' respective contexts. Results indicated that the participants used the TOEIC L&R test scores largely as intended by the test developer although some elements of the score report appeared to be less useful and could be confusing for stakeholders. Findings from this study highlight the importance of providing score reporting information with clarity and ease to enhance appropriate use and interpretation.
Culturally responsive personalized learning (CRPL) emphasizes the importance of aligning personalized learning approaches with previous research on culturally responsive practices to consider social, cultural, and linguistic contexts for learning. In the present discussion, we briefly summarize two bodies of literature considered in defining and developing a framework for CRPL: technology-enabled personalized learning and culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining pedagogy. We then provide a definition and framework consisting of six key principles of CRPL, along with a brief discussion of theories and empirical evidence to support these principles. These six principles include agency, dynamic adaptation, connection to lived experiences, consideration of social movements, opportunities for collaboration, and shared power. These principles fall into three domains: fostering flexible student-centered learning experiences, leveraging relevant content and practices, and supporting meaningful interactions within a community. Finally, we conclude with some implications of this framework for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working to ensure that all students receive high-quality learning opportunities that are both personalized and culturally responsive.
This report presents results from a survey of 64 elementary mathematics and reading language arts teacher educators providing feedback on a new type of short performance task. The performance tasks each present a brief teaching scenario and then require a short performance as if teaching actual students. Teacher educators participating in the study first reviewed six performance tasks, followed by a more in-depth review of two of the tasks. After reviewing the tasks, teacher educators completed an online survey providing input on the value of the tasks and on potential uses to support teacher preparation. The survey responses were positive with the majority of teacher educators supporting a variety of different uses of the performance tasks to support teacher preparation. The report concludes by proposing a larger theory for how the performance tasks can be used as both formative assessment tools to support teacher learning and summative assessments to guide decisions about candidates' readiness for the classroom.