Classroom assessment fairness inventory: a new instrument to support perceived fairness in classroom assessment

ABSTRACT

Fair assessment in the classroom is a concern from student, teacher, principal and public perspectives. Standards and policies also underscore fairness as a key underpinning for assessments. Perceptions of fairness impact students’ socio-emotional and learning outcomes, and build confidence, trust and legitimacy for the assessment outcomes. However, a direct inquiry into students’ perceptions of what a fair assessment means has received scant attention. Without appreciating students’ perceptions, we lack insights into how students’ perceptions of fairness impact their responses to assessment outcomes for learning and grading purposes. Therefore, this study leveraged the Classroom Assessment Fairness Inventory to investigate first-year undergraduate students’ perceptions of fairness about their secondary school experiences in Ontario, Canada. The results present initial validity evidence for the inventory to support a fairness theory and practice in classroom assessment contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Fairness
• assessment
• students
• perceptions
• classroom
• inventory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Note that most items under student consultation, transparency, and diversity in Dorman and colleagues can be interpreted as relevant to fairness. However, only items with explicit reference to fairness were retained to avoid this researcher-imposed interpretations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amirhossein Rasooli

Amirhossein Rasooli (PhD) was an Assistant Lecturer and Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Canada. He currently holds the lecturer position in Educational Assessment at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Through his research on fairness and equity in assessment and education within K-12 and higher education contexts, he aims to promote the capacity for fairer practices in schools and universities.

Christopher DeLuca

Christopher DeLuca (PhD) is a Professor and an Associate Dean at the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs and Professor in Educational Assessment at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. Dr. DeLuca’s research examines the complex intersection of assessment, curriculum, and pedagogy as operating within the current context of school accountability and standards-based education. His work largely focuses on supporting teachers in negotiating these critical areas of practice to enhance student learning experiences.

Liying Cheng

Liying Cheng (PhD) is a Professor in Language Education and Assessment at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. Her seminal research on washback illustrates the global impact of large-scale testing on instruction, the relationships between assessment and instruction, and the academic and professional acculturation of international and new immigrant students, workers, and professionals in Canada—an underrepresented population in the research, but one whose lives are greatly impacted by testing and assessment.

Amin Mousavi

Amin Mousavi (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Psychometrics, Classroom Assessment, and Measurement at the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Mousavi’s main area of interest for research is quantitative methodology in social and behavioral sciences, with a focus on person fit analysis, learning analytics, parameter estimation and computer assisted testing/assessment.