In ‘fair assessment’fair does not mean equal, it means EQUITABLE. In order to better understand this, please read ‘Equity forEnglish-language learners’, the article is included in this Unit’s Reading List.
If you are a practicing teacher please reflect on your assessment practice and analyze whether it has been equitable and in whatway was it equitable.
If you are not a practicing teacher, as yet, reflect on your experience as an assessee and analyze whether your assessments werefair and equitable.
Dear Dr. Sherry Birdwell and colleagues,
When asked how fairly I assess students, I turned to the essence of equitable accommodations, ''which can actually make adifference in your students' journey to learning English'' (Alrubail, 2016):
- Allow students to use a dictionary and/or thesaurus.
- Give students extra time.
- Provide an alternate method of teaching and learning.
- Allow translations.
And in answer to the question of whether I use these points in my work, I will say that yes, I do. It is part of the mandatory listof actions when preparing students for speaking practice, an exam, or a project. I teach students to use these featuresindependently, not only during practice lessons but also when doing homework. With the exception of a special summativetest that is administered at the end of the topic studied.
"No state shall deny equal opportunity to an individual by... the failure of an educational agency to take appropriate action toovercome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in educational programs (Equal EducationalOpportunity Act, 2003)" (Carjuzaa & Ruff, 2016).
Studying an article on ''Culture-Fair Assessment: Addressing Equity Issues in the Context of Primary Mathematics Teaching andLearning'' I found it strange that a subject as impersonal as mathematics could have difficulty making a fair assessment of thevalue of a software program. assessment of the value of the software program And the explanation that it depends onteachers who are not willing to share their laptops with students puzzled me. So we are talking about faculty bias, notassessment problems per se.
I really liked Principles for Equitable Assessment (Siegel, Wisserh, & Halverson, 2008).
- Match the learning goals and the language of instruction.
- be comprehensible for English learners, both linguistically and culturally.
- Challenge students to think about difficult ideas.
- Elicit student understanding.
- scaffold the use of language and support student learning.
Since I was born, raised, and educated in a territory where English is a foreign language, my teachers were both local teachersand native speakers temporarily living in my country. I would like to note that they all followed these principles in one way oranother, perhaps even intuitively. And now I know how to put it in academic terms.
The main problem for students is not a lack of understanding of language structures but a failure to understand the essence ofthe subject in question. The easiest way to teach a student new abstract things is when they have developed the skill ofabstract thinking and understand the interaction of concepts from a frequent to a general level. In this case, as an Englishteacher, I pay more attention to mastering the essence of concepts, understanding the assignments to exercises, andmaximizing the scientific approach to exercises that require creative solutions. In my work, I try to use such methods as oralreports, presentations, demonstrations, written assignments, and portfolios (Using informal assessment for English languagelearners, n.d.), which I evaluate with detailed feedback.
I believe that the most fair, not equal, way of assessing something is to first assess the depth of understanding of its essence.The rest will come with time, which the student will spend in one way or another to comprehend the details, and practice,which is an integral part of any learning process (the only question is how much repetition is required in each case). Second, Ievaluate the effort the student puts into repeating the material or practicing. That is, when giving feedback, I always mentionboth points to which I draw the student's attention.
References
1. Alrubail, R. (2016). Equity for English-language learners. EDUTOPIA.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/equity-for-english-language-learners-rusul-alrubail
2.. Carjuzaa, J., & Ruff, W. (2016). American Indian English language learners: misunderstood and under-served. CogentEducation.
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1/12658/Ruff_CE_2016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
3. Klenowski, V., & Gertz, T. (2009). Culture fair assessment: addressing equity issues in the context of primary mathematicsteaching and learning. Australian Research Council (ARC).
https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=research_conference
4. Siegel, M., Wisserh, C., & Halverson, K. (2008). A framework for equitable assessment. The Science Teacher, 44.
http://people.uncw.edu/kubaskod/nc_teach/class_5_assessment/sounds_like_success_equitable_assessment.pdf
5.Using informal assessment for English language learners. (n.d.). Colorin colorado.
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/using-informal-assessments-english-language-learners
