An interesting topic that arose at the conference during the discussion of AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics was the relationship between equity and assessment. A summary of the issue can be found here:

http://learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/OccasionalPaper29.pdf

Two points:

1) If we care about equity in higher education, we should care about valid assessment: when coupled with demographic information, assessment tells us how different segments of our student population are faring in their education, which is essential if we are seeking equitable outcomes in higher ed. Assessment helps us make sure that all of our students are being served, regardless of ethnicity, cultural background, etc.

2) When we are not intentional and sensitive to equity, however, assessment can harm the students whom we most need to help. Many faculty repurpose some version of the assessment models under which they themselves were successful in college, but not all students are equally adept at demonstrating their learning in the same ways. Cultural differences, in particular, can interfere with validity of assessment techniques. This is famously the case with IQ tests. (The history of the measurement of cognitive aptitude is full of stories of methological mispractice: the mismeasurement of cranial capacity, etc.)

By making learning outcomes and the means for demonstrating them explicit, we even the playing field, reducing the advantage of upper middle class (usually white) students who learned how to play the unwritten game of academic success in high school.

When we take assesssment for granted, or disparage it as a burdensome bureaucratic process, are we harming our students?