‘Leading’ Assessment for Inclusion

Inclusive assessment benefits all students’ learning and retention. However, current systems rely on accommodations rather than improving assessment design in ways that are socio- culturally and research informed.

This resource is an outcome of a project which explored sector-wide understandings of inclusive assessment policy and practice within Australia and New Zealand.

We hope that this focus on the distributed leadership of assessment for inclusion aligns with the idea that it’s not just about what you do individually, it’s about how you can lead, promote, inspire, and support others to also do the same. We want you to be able to take this resource and share it with colleagues, using it to talk about problems with assessment from an inclusion perspective, and to address them in ways which are appropriate to your context and situation.

We think most people are good human beings who want to do right by others. However, it’s one thing to know that we need to do something differently, but it’s another thing to actually do it. Within the context of higher education, assessment, and inclusion, we believe that leading by example and inspiring others to do better are really important factors to success. Change comes from within us all.

How this Open Education Resource has been structured

While we have sequenced the chapters in what we think is a logical order, each covers a different aspect of assessment for inclusion, and you might choose to jump around or move back and forth as it suits your interests and needs. Case study examples, assessment for inclusion concepts, and an inclusive assessment framework will be presented in the following chapters to expand on how leadership of assessment for inclusion can look at all levels of higher education.

Chapter 1 focuses on the definitions, data, and legislation basics of Assessment for Inclusion.

Chapter 2 supports the conceptualisation of assessment for inclusion; social justice, sustainable assessment, assessment for cultural inclusion, universal design for learning, and assessment validity.

Chapter 3 and 4 discuss two distinct but nuanced stages of assessment; principles for assessment design and the subsequent design cycles informed by them.

Chapter 5 shares practical examples of assessment for inclusion we’ve collected from our research.

Chapter 6 discusses opportunities and barriers for higher education, and the elements of different institutional groups within the academy.

Chapter 7 shares strategies for each of these elements within the academy to exercise agency in supporting assessment for inclusion from their own locus of power.

Chapter 8 shares a range of useful assessment for learning links and resources, as well as our Assessment for Inclusion framework resulting from this research project.

Throughout this book, you will also find questions for reflection at the beginning and end of each chapter. Here’s an example to start: