How do students experience inclusive assessment? A critical review of contemporary literature

• Published in: International journal of inclusive education Vol. 28; no. 9; pp. 1936 - 1953
• Main Authors: Tai, Joanna, Ajjawi, Rola, Umarova, Anastasiya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 28.07.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Assessment design; Design; disability inclusion; Disability studies; Educational Assessment; Higher education; Learning; Literature reviews; social inclusion; Student Characteristics; Students; universal design
• ISSN: 1360-3116; 1464-5173
• DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2021.2011441

Assessment drives learning and determines success in higher education. In a robust and defensible system, assessment should not exclude based on extraneous student characteristics, particularly as the student body becomes more diverse. This research sought to examine classroom assessment designs that might make assessment inclusive. A critical literature review was conducted identifying 13 research papers where outcomes of inclusive assessment were reported. Included studies focussed on students with disabilities, international and linguistically diverse students. Only one study examined the effects of inclusive assessment design on student learning. Efforts to make assessment more inclusive were as follows: offering students choice, programmatic approaches to assessment and co-design of assessment and policies that promote inclusion. Universal design for assessment has not been widely implemented within the sector. This is likely due to limited theorisation and operationalisation of inclusive assessment and assessment design processes that favour tradition and taken-for-granted assumptions about how assessment should be. Assessment designers should consider the ways in which assessment might exclude and to foster wider scholarship towards assessment for inclusion.