Summary and Key Take-aways of a Journal Article on Assessment and Culture
The Ongoing Quest for Culturally-Responsive Assessment for Indigenous Students in the U.S.
(Trumbull & Nelson-Barber, 2019)
Summary: In this article, the authors delve into the challenges Indigenous students face in the U.S. education system, particularly in the realm of assessment. They start by highlighting the efforts made to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into education, acknowledging that despite these efforts, Western-style education often takes precedence, negatively impacting Indigenous students. The authors emphasize the problematic nature of common assessments, especially high-stakes tests, in the context of Indigenous education.
Gap between Cultures: One significant aspect discussed is the gap between European-American values embedded in the U.S. education system and the cultural backgrounds of Indigenous students. This gap results in a disconnection between what students learn at school and their cultural worldviews.
Challenges in Assessment: The article outlines how this disconnection manifests in the assessment of Indigenous students, particularly through large-scale tests. These tests are criticized for being ineffective and biased, causing negative emotions and attitudes among Indigenous students.
Impact of Policies: Historical policies, such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2000, are shown to interfere with effective education for American Indian and Alaska Native students. The authors argue that the imposition of dominant culture's ways, driven by a quest for "best practices," negatively impacts Indigenous languages and cultures.
Recognition of Indigenous Ways of Knowing: The article calls for efforts to recognize and integrate Indigenous knowledge systems into education, covering curriculum, instruction, and assessment. It advocates for culturally-responsive pedagogy that extends beyond curriculum to include instructional and assessment approaches aligned with Indigenous ways of teaching and learning.
Cultural Validity in Assessment: A crucial concept discussed is "cultural validity" in assessment, emphasizing the need to recognize tests as cultural artifacts and acknowledge the influence of students' cultural knowledge and experiences on their responses.
Language and Cultural Validity: The authors highlight the role of language in cultural validity, especially considering recent policies leading to a loss of heritage languages among Indigenous students. Recommendations include assessing students in their primary language and addressing linguistic diversity.
Conclusion: To conclude, this article sheds light on the ongoing challenges in assessing Indigenous students, emphasizing the importance of cultural validity, particularly concerning language diversity. The authors provide recommendations to address these challenges and promote a more inclusive and responsive educational system for Indigenous students.
Reference
Trumbull, E., & Nelson-Barber, S. (2019). The ongoing quest for culturally-responsive assessment for Indigenous students in the U.S. Frontiers in Education, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2019.00040
Connection to the Course
The article aligns closely with the central themes explored in our class regarding the intersection of culture and assessment. The author addresses the multifaceted impact of culture on various aspects of the assessment process, providing valuable insights that resonate with our class discussions.
Implicit Messaging and Cultural Formulation: The article parallels our discussions on how culture influences the formulation of assessment directives. It expands on the notion of implicit messaging, illustrating how cultural specificity in the formulation of assessments may inadvertently assess students' understanding of implicit codes rather than the intended competency. This connects with our exploration of how cultural nuances affect the communication of assessment expectations.
Cultural Specificity in Assessment Formats: Our class delved into the impact of assessment formats on diverse cultural groups, and the article reinforces this by highlighting the cultural specificity of various assessment formats. It underscores how multiple-choice assessments, for instance, may not be universally comprehensible. The article's discussion on the clash caused by hyper-internationalization echoes our class conversation about the challenges students face when encountering assessment methods unfamiliar to their cultural backgrounds.
Implicit Values and Objectives: The article adds depth to our exploration of the hidden curriculum, emphasizing how students may struggle to fully grasp the set of values, norms, and expectations that underpin assessment practices. This aligns with our class discussions on the cultural complexity inherent in the hidden curriculum and the challenges it poses to students.
Grading Interpretation and Cultural Tensions: In our class, we examined how grades are interpreted within different cultural contexts. The article extends this discussion by posing questions about the cultural interpretations of grades from both the perspective of the assessment designer and the student's culture and family. It encourages us to consider anecdotal stories, fostering a deeper understanding of cultural tensions related to grading.
Summative Assessment in Cultural Context: The article broadens our understanding of summative assessment within a cultural landscape. It prompts reflection on the cultural influences on the breakdown of summative vs. formative assessment and the socio-economic context determining the need for change. This resonates with our class discussions on assessment transformation and its cultural implications.
Perpetuating Cultural Power Dynamics: Our discussions on the historical use of standardized assessments to perpetuate cultural and racial gaps find resonance in the article's exploration of assessment as a tool to perpetuate cultural power dynamics. The examples provided, such as the school-to-prison pipeline and cases like Murdoch University, underscore the real-world consequences of Western Euro-centric assessments.
In summary, this article significantly contributes to our ongoing discourse on culture and assessment by providing nuanced insights into the intricate ways culture influences assessment formulation, formats, values, grading, summative assessment, and power dynamics.
