This report summarizes an investigation of literature published in 1985-2023 on universal design (UD) of large-scale assessments. State education agencies, K-12 assessment vendors, teacher trainers, and classroom teachers are increasingly applying the principles of UD to the instruction and assessment of students from special populations. In…

Drawing on a scoping-review methodology, this study aimed to map extant literature to conceptualize cultural validity in assessment. Three themes emerged from this review: (a) conceptualization of cultural validity, (b) promoting cultural validity in assessment, and (c) challenges to cultural validity in assessment. The review showed that…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, Two-Spirit, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals encounter numerous obstacles to equity across health and healthcare, education, housing, employment, and other domains. Such barriers are even greater for LGBTQ+ individuals who are also Black, Indigenous, and People of Color…

Scholarship on the science of reading (SoR) has, in some instances, taken up more narrow views of reading in discussions and instantiations of reading assessment that do not center equity and justice, especially in schools. This can lead to less valid and even harmful reading assessment, especially for students from historically marginalized…

In this article, I argue for expanding what "counts" as evidence of content learning in the assessment of English learners (ELs) and their peers in the content areas. ELs bring expansive meaning-making resources to content classrooms that are valuable assets for meeting the ambitious learning goals of the latest K-12 education reform.…

The students who suffer the most from the lack of equity in assessment by using inappropriate assessment techniques are those from Historically Marginalized Groups (Koelsch et al., 1995; Marion et al., 2020; Penuel & Watkins, 2020). The theory of justice, (Freire, 1993; Rawls, 1971) provided the lens to examine how the institution of schools,…

The aim of this study was to identify the components of fair classroom assessment and formulate a conceptual framework for it by following the steps proposed by Okoli and Schabram for a systematic review. For this purpose, three databases including ERIC, Elsevier, and Springer were systematically searched. As a result of this research, 39…

The global COVID-19 health pandemic caused major interruptions to educational assessment systems, partially due to shifts to remote learning environments, entering the post-COVID educational world into one that is more open to heterogeneity in instructional and assessment modes for secondary students. In addition, in 2020, educational inequities…

In this article, we argue that current assessment practices in higher education require urgent examination and should be re-imagined in culturally responsive ways to ensure fairness for all. From sociocultural and social justice perspectives, we highlight examples of cultural and linguistic bias in assessment that disadvantages many First Nations…

Educational tests are standardized so that all examinees are tested on the same material, under the same testing conditions, and with the same scoring protocols. This uniformity is designed to provide a level "playing field" for all examinees so that the test is "the same" for everyone. Thus, standardization is designed to…

Many students experience a language-related barrier which may keep them from fully understanding and engaging in complex chemistry content. Although dense and technically rich scientific language is challenging for most students to interpret, it can become a systematic barrier for English Language Learner (ELL) students when it cognitively…

Large-scale assessments, a prominent part of education in the United States, are the accountability measures used to determine policies, programs, and the allocation of resources. The U.S. school population continues to have an increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, indicating the need to reevaluate the…

The literature indicates that the effects of sources of demographic biases on fairness in classroom assessment (CA) are under-researched in the Iranian higher education context. Hence, this study aims to explore the Iranian university teachers' perceptions of the effects of demographic biases (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic (SES)) on…

The global COVID-19 health pandemic caused major interruptions to educational assessment systems, partially due to shifts to remote learning environments, entering the post-COVID educational world into one that is more open to heterogeneity in instructional and assessment modes for secondary students. In addition, in 2020, educational inequities…

This chapter presents findings from a national survey that sought to capture the ways practitioners work to integrate both assessment and social justice into their work as central concepts and practices that guide their efforts in student affairs. In so doing, these practitioners are working to reclaim assessment from the traditional, dominant…