Fair assessment as social practice

In this article assessment conceptualised as social practice is explored to address issues related to fairness and equity. How teachers develop fair assessment practice by engaging in collaborative enquiry with researchers, parents, students, and Aboriginal education workers is presented. The research findings on which this article is based derive from an evaluation of an Indigenous schooling reform initiative and Australian Research Council Linkage projects that sought to explore ways to improve equity and ethical leadership in one project, and learning outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through fairer assessment practices in another. Fair assessment conceptualised as a social practice provides a window on how to develop generative approaches to promote learning for all students, particularly Indigenous students, in a context that values high-stakes testing as the major indicator for measuring achievement.