Assessment Matters 8: 2015 Special Issue

Students’ grades are altered for a variety of reasons in educational systems worldwide. While there has been considerable research on teachers’ grading practices, very little is known about the circumstances and reasons for grade alteration. This article closely examines eight instances where experienced teachers altered or were asked to alter students’ grades in secondary schools in Ontario, Canada. Essentially, the teachers’ responses were based on: a) the… Read more

Meritocracy embodies tension(s) between its egalitarian and elitist strands, which in turn construct how “fairness” is construed in terms of educational opportunity and outcome. In this article, two conflicting notions of fairness are identified, and the dialectic tension and relationship(s) between each are explored. Assessment practices in schools, in particular those pertaining to notions of assessment validity, are identified as early purveyors of merit… Read more

Hong Kong is a predominantly Chinese society but just over 6 percent of the population is made up of ethnic minorities. This composition flows into schools where teachers in selected schools need to cater for a diverse school population. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether assessment environments in Hong Kong schools are able to cater for the learning motivation of ethnic minority students as well as their Chinese peers.

Students… Read more

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… Read more

Even though many nations include gifted and talented (G&T) students within their inclusion policies these students’ particular needs are frequently neglected or ignored owing to prevailing perceptions that they will thrive regardless of the classroom or school environment. We explore definitions of fairness and equity and common identifying characteristics of G&T students. As an extension of fairness and equity, the “what”, “how”, and “why” of… Read more

Family and whānau can play a productive role in assessment, but this requires teachers to establish relationships that facilitate the reciprocal exchange of information for the benefit of student learning. The extent teachers achieve this exchange for and with different students and their families is a matter of fairness and equity. In the article we argue that equitable parental participation in formative assessment relies on families being able to access… Read more