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Helping Your Students Demonstrate Learning

A FACT2 Innovative Assessment Symposium

April 7-28, 2022

Strategies for Creating Socially Just Assessments

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Strategies for Creating Socially Just Assessments

Judith Littlejohn, Genesee Community College

Chris Price, SUNY Center for Professional Development

Shena Driscoll Salvato, SUNY Cortland

Meghanne Freivald, Alfred University

Katelyn Burton Prager, SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology

Nicole Childrose, Columbia-Greene Community College

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Mission of Task Group

This group will explore new tools and emerging technology solutions that apply alternative ways of assessing student performance, including feedback and grading. The group identified four main groups of methods for allowing students to do this:

  • Multiple Pathways for Assessment
  • Real World Assessment
  • Diversity and Equity Assessment
  • Learning Recognition Assessment

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Symposium Overview

During the month of April each subgroup will be presenting about specific assessments in their domain. The next event is:

  • Re-examining Assessing Classroom Learning using E-portfolios
    • Thursday, April 28, 1:00 pm

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https://online.suny.edu/innovativeassessments

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FACT2 Assessment Sub-Group

Our Goals:

  • Explore research on social justice assessment
  • Identify strategies
  • Curate resources, examples & best practices

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What is Social Justice Assessment?

An innovative approach to assessment that focuses on the learning achieved by diverse students as it relates to specific learning objectives and mitigates the influence of dominant norms

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Social Justice Factors

Race

Culture

Language

Proficiency

Disability

Socioeconomic

Status

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Equality v. Equity

Image from Interaction Institute for Social Change; Artist - Angus Maguire; interactioninstitute.org

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Equitable Assessment

  • Goal of assessment = adjust teaching
  • Limitations of traditional assessments
  • Achievement & growth
  • Embrace diversity
  • Remove barriers
  • Focus on learning objectives

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Labor Based Grading

  • Collaborate on assessment criteria
  • Keep labor logs
  • Engage in revise & resubmit process
  • Encourage self-assessment

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Ungrading

  • (Digital) Critical Pedagogy (Jesse Stommel - bit.ly/ungrading)
  • Grading ignores diversity, fails to capture learning, and does not motivate students
  • Ungrading separates feedback from assessment through eliminating (as much as possible) numerical grades
  • Final grades determined by student reflections and/or collaborative discussions between instructor and students
  • Examples of ungrading approaches include:
    • Grade Free Zones
    • Minimal Grading
    • Self-Assessment: Process Letters or Process Portfolios
    • Peer Assessment
    • Student-Made Rubrics

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Simple Adjustments to Remove Barriers

  • How were we assessed as students?
  • Have we experienced diversity in or barriers to assessment?
  • Why are we assessing the way we are?
  • What is it that we're assessing?
  • Identify barriers: ask our students
  • Consider why, where, for whom:
    • time limits
    • forced completion
    • spelling and conventions of written English
    • multiple choice/selected response questions
      • research best practices
      • remove all of the above or some of the above options
    • revisit initial responses
    • conditional release of different question forms

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Examples

If you would like to share practices from your own teaching, please enter them into the Best Practices for Assessment form.

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Ticket out the Door

What is an example from your current practice that you can share?

What strategy/adjustment would you like to try with your students?

Please respond on our Jamboard.

By Yoyon Pujiyono, ID for The Noun Project

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Questions?

By Adrien Coquet, FR for The Noun Project

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Our Contact Info

Judith Littlejohn, jmlittlejohn@genesee.edu

Chris Price, chris.price@suny.edu

Shena Driscoll Salvato, shena.salvato@cortland.edu

Meghanne Freivald, freivald@alfred.edu

Katelyn Burton Prager, katelyn_prager@fitnyc.edu

Nicole Childrose, nicole.childrose@sunycgcc.edu

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Reminder of Upcoming Events

  • FACT2 Symposium Week 4: Re-examining Assessing Classroom Learning using E-portfolios
    • Thursday, April 28, 1:00 pm
  • 4 Week Assessment Challenge
    • May 2 - 27
  • SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT)
    • May 31 - June 3 at SUNY Oswego

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How to stay involved

https://padlet.com/coilatncc/9mkb3ymlcotnwscc

4-Week Assessment Challenge

  • May 2-27
  • Weekly focus
  • You can choose how you want to interact

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