Designing out barriers to student access and participation in secondary school assessment

• Published in: Australian educational researcher Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 103 - 124
• Main Authors: Graham, Linda J., Tancredi, Haley, Willis, Jill, McGraw, Kelli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access to Education; Accessibility; Adjustment; Assistive Technology; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Barriers; Barriers to participation; Design requirements; Developmental disabilities; Disabilities; Disability; Education; Educational Assessment; Educational Opportunities; Educational Policy; Educational Policy and Politics; Educational Psychology; Elementary Education; Elementary Schools; Environmental Influences; Equal Education; Equity; Evaluation methods; Imagination; Instructional design; Language Impairments; Learning Theories; Legislation; Participation; Quality Assurance; Quality Control; School Libraries; Secondary education; Secondary School Students; Secondary Schools; Student assessment; Student Evaluation; Students; Students with Disabilities; Summative Evaluation; Task Analysis; Teacher Effectiveness; Teachers; Teaching and Teacher Education; Teaching Methods; Test construction; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Accessible assessment design; Inclusive practice; Developmental Language Disorder
• ISSN: 0311-6999; 2210-5328
• DOI: 10.1007/s13384-018-0266-y

In an effort to support student agency in assessment, teachers seek to provide detailed instructions and advice in associated assessment task sheets. In this paper, we analyse a sample English assessment task to consider how such assessment design practices might inadvertently create barriers to access and participation. To make our case, we highlight the learning characteristics of students in two of the most prevalent disability groups: students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and students with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). The paper links student agency to the problem of equity by analysing the conditions and criteria of access that are built into assessment design. The article concludes with design recommendations to help improve access for all students, including students in these two highly prevalent disability groups. [Author abstract]