A Call for Culturally Sensitive Assessment

Thomas Reeves believes that “sensitivity to cultural diversity and pluralism is a “meta-value” that should influence virtually every aspect of human activity” (Reeves, 1997, p. 27). He builds a compelling argument for the consideration of cultural influences when evaluating learning and stresses the need for creating “emancipatory evaluation” that could be a “force for liberation and equity” in our society (Reeves, 1997, p. 30). Overall the article is a thought-provoking overview of the complexity of developing evaluations that are fair to all yet still yield information worth knowing. I was left with the impression that these may be diametrically opposed goals and so I set out to find something that could help educators, such as myself, create unbiased evaluation of student learning and achievement.

I discovered an excellent workbook (Wall, & Walz, 2003) with an especially good chapter, entitled “A Test User’s Guide to Serving a Multicultural Community” authored by David Lundberg and Wyatt Kirk. In this piece, they advocate the use of multiple assessments including essay questions, performance assessments and interviews in addition to the development of standardized testing that is more specific to minority cultures as a way to create assessments that “serve the test taker” (Wall & Walz, 2003, p. 124). They also highlight research that low test performance is often influenced more by low socioeconomic status than by race, ethnicity or cultural factors alone (Wall & Walz, 2003, p. 121). Unfortunately, society tends to continue to focus on the more visible factors (like race) when striving to correct “problems” in the educational system.

I was curious about the U.S. Government’s stand on culturally sensitive assessment given the heightened importance of standardized testing as a measure of teaching effectiveness in the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” It was alarming to discover that many “model programs” identified by the U.S. Department of Education have, in fact, resulted in greater inequities in educational opportunities for minority populations (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2003). The government’s emphasis on “race-neutral” alternatives has created programs with catchy titles that have failed miserably at addressing the complex factors underlying low academic performance and achievement by minorities both at the K-12 and post-secondary levels of education.

As developing educators, I think we need to remember “Our first step is to recognize each individual as a person of great value and undeveloped, unknown talents. No single test or battery of tests of similar format can ever explain a person. No test can level the field or compensate for all the diversity present in a single school, much less in our society. And no evaluation instrument can replace the importance of one human being interacting with another” (Wall & Walz, 2003, p. 123). It is imperative for all of us to help develop inclusive programs, that stand up to rigorous research, if we are to reach the goal of the forefathers of this country of creating a land where each individual has a truly equal chance of reaching his or her own potential as a human being.

[References]


U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 2003. The U.S. Department of Education’s Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary Education; Innovative Aproaches to Diversity – Are They Viable Substitutes for Affirmative Action? Washinton, DC: U.S. Government Press.

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. 2003. Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary Education: Innovative Approaches to Diversity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Press.

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. 2004. Achieving Diversity: Race-Neutral Alternatives in American Education, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Press.

Reeves, T. (1997). An evaluator looks at cultural diversity. Educational Technology, 37(2), 27-31.

Wall, J.E. & Walz, G.R. (2003). Measuring Up: Assessment Issue for Teachers, Counselors and Administrators. Greensboro, NC; ERIC Counseling & Student Services.