Measures of indigenous achievement in Canada

ABSTRACT

The practice of measuring Indigenous achievement dates back to the early 1960s. Since then, Indigenous people have been subjected to a number of different standardized assessments intended to capture indicators of their well-being. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to the cultural appropriateness of subjecting Indigenous people to instruments designed for non-Indigenous populations. Subsequently, there has been reluctance for some Indigenous jurisdictions to participate in standardized large-scale assessments that have now become commonplace throughout the world. The purpose of this literature review was to consolidate literature reporting on the different types of assessments and corresponding outcomes used to measure achievement of Indigenous students in Canada and to synthesize more recent documents reporting on assessment practices and Indigenous student achievement. The outcome of this examination of literature provides insight into how achievement has been measured in the past and how we might transition toward culturally responsive assessment for the future.

Notes

¹ The OCED (2017) primarily focused on mathematics achievement to compare gains in achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.

² Note: It is recognized that conversations are not typically included in a literature review, but given the absence of research in this area and the transient nature of teachers in the north, an exception was made to document any known initiatives in modeling culturally responsive assessment practices.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ArcticNet [Foundations for Student Persistence and Success in].